It was brief, but google did not sell ads from when they launched in 1998 until October 2000.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Google
1998 is not outside "living memory"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Google
1998 is not outside "living memory"
I don't think that's fair unless you can find something that says that was their intent (sibling posts in this thread claim there's actually evidence to the contrary). I don't see the problem with "startup trying to figure out a sustainable business" and leaving it like that. It's not like that's something unprecedented or even unusual.
Now, to which extent they REALLY wanted to do this, and REALLY impacted the day to day decision, I don't know. Neither if said pitch deck had other options.
I also remember the IPO. Didn’t have any money at the time, but still wish I had invested… or gotten my parents to invest.