When they started. While the tech was good they had no business model. Was having trouble making money and tried to sell to various existing search engines, but no one bought. They eventually backed up and fell over into targeted search advertising... and the rest is history.

A less persistent set of founders may have closed up shop and simply said, "Great technology, but the business around search just isn't there outside the context of a portal".

I wish I was as "mediocre" and "unsuccessful" as Google's early history.

Google incorporated in late 1998, and by 2000 were powering the search results for Yahoo (the biggest website on the internet at the time). They were being paid (and paid well) for that too.

It was the same year (2000) that they implemented search advertising.

Given it only took them 12-18 months (of explosive growth) before they were powering the biggest site on the internet and making money I thnk it's hard to argue they were ever mediovre.

First, you have to remember that Brin and Page had done a fair bit of work before incorporating. But I think your statement kind of proves my point. In hindsight it seems obvious, right? But for Brin and Page, who were there at the time, they were willing to sell the company for $750k -- and their offer was turned down. Clearly they didn't see the company would be worth billions in just a few years.

So there was a period of time they viewed the company as a mediocre investment. And at this point they were just Ramen profitable. But they powered through it, and legend has it, that it was one of the Yahoo co-founders that helped convince them to really make a run of it.

My point, what others may look at and call "mediocrity" and say they won't pay $750k for today, may end up in a few years being the fastest growing company in the history of the world.