So why'd he try to sell Google to Excite in 1999 for $1M.
Edit: the CEO of Excite at the time said the issue was that Larry wanted Excite to rip out all their search servers and replace them with Google (which would have been an inside-out acquisition, where the acquired company takes over the acquiring company):
Bell, currently with General Catalyst Partners, recalls Google’s asking price between $250,000 to $500,000 and 1% of Excite. He says the issue was not in the financial terms but in the larger deal points.
“Larry page insisted that we have to rip out all of the Excite search technology and replace it with Google,” Bell said.
My point was more that if a guy wants to start a company to create passive income to fund his massively ambitious research projects, he would need the foresight to know the company would be massively successful, like throw off enough cash to pursue projects that would appear frivolous successful, and I don't think the Google founders had that foresight. Obviously I wasn't there, but trying to sell it to multiple suitors (they were also open to selling to Yahoo as late as 2002 afaik) indicates they didn't. My understanding is nobody knew search would be as lucrative as it it today.
Not to say you're fabricating your story, I'm sure they said that, but perhaps it's some revisionist history.