Yeah, the "faster" starts I don't think are intended to be combined with the tutorial start, and that perhaps could be made clearer. Or perhaps go farther and not allow the combination of the two? They essentially give you the tutorial salvaged ships already. They're mostly there so you can skip the tutorial and be in the same state ship wise as if you had done the tutorial.
Well, I will say that apparently the Apogee start has a greatly increased need for supplies compared to start #2 for example. 3 supplies per day vs. 0.3 per day. Both start with the same amount of starting supplies and cash.
Considering I started with the Apogee start, you can see why I'm so greatly tilted. Still, I went for a long while before fuel ever became a concern at all. It was always supplies for me.
The apogee start (without tutorial) is about a factor of 4 to 5 greater in terms of supply cost than the say, the wayfarer/shepherd start (again without tutorial). 38 supplies per month vs 8. 7 fuel/ly vs 2 fuel/ly.
Still assuming no tutorial, the wayfarer/shepherd starts with 32,000 credits, 80 supplies, 70 fuel, 70 crew, and 45 heavy machinery.
Apogee starts with 50,000 credits, 230 supplies, 253 fuel, 589 crew, and 75 heavy machinery.
The extra 18,000 credits will buy ~180 supplies putting you at about 5 times the starting supplies and 3.6 times the fuel - almost exactly the supply/fuel cost ratio for the starts. The key is leveraging that increased cost for increased profits. At 735 versus 200 cargo capacity, you certainly can carry 3.5 times as much, while having a solid combat line up in the form of the Apogee and fighter support which can handle low end bounties.
I mean, if you really wanted, you could store some of the ships and cargo from the Apogee start in the Abandoned Terraforming platform in Corvus and really just be ahead with the dram + shepherd + wayfarer. However, I admit that is highly not obvious to a starting player having supply issues. It is also not an option if you're doing the tutorial from the start.