The worst thing that any startup can do is say that they are a Google killer. It is natural for Rich Skrenta the founder of Blekko – a search engine – messaging the opposite.

Rich writes:

“…there is no such thing as a Google killer. No company is going to play David to their Goliath and slay them with a well-aimed stone from a slingshot. Google is here to stay.”

Why do I bring this up? I am one of the founders of a search start-up. One that recently raised money from a couple of great venture capital firms. So whenever anything is printed about us, or even comes up in causal conversation, the term “Google killer” gets bandied about. Again, I think you’re as likely to see a Google-killer as you are to find Sasquatch or the Loch Ness monster.

So why join a search start-up then? Because I don’t believe to be successful in this business you need to be a Google-killer. In fact, trying to be a Google-killer is probably the one sure way not to succeed.

If you were to start a soft-drink company, would you be a Coke killer? Would you create a product that tasted exactly like Coke and put it in a red can? Of course not, that would be product suicide. You make something that tastes different and package it differently – Snapple, Red Bull, Vitamin Water.

We think the same about search. Google isn’t going anywhere. We think there are a lot of problems that search isn’t addressing right now that it could be. And that’s where we want to play. Own a category or die. So no, we’re not a Google killer.”

My Angle: It’s pure positioning from a company that has been in what feels like an eternity of stealthmode. The expectations are very high for Blekko. Why? The sheer amount of time that they’ve been in stealthmode. Either they have something huge or nothing at all.

From the “we are not a Google killer” to the non-information being put out leads me to believe that they have nothing. It’s just a PR way of saying don’t judge us right away because we can’t come close to the value proposition of Google.

Cuil: The Google-Killer

Companies have tried to be Google killers in the past. Remember Cuil or Powerset? Both failures although Powerset was sold to Microsoft for a good chunk of change, but word from Microsoft is that they are only doing some lame “thumbnail” placement around their once revolutionary semantic algorithms. Translation is that “Powerset was a dud.”

I think that Google could have a new entrant threaten them, but it won’t look like a Google killer out of the box. Just remember Google when they launched. No one said they were a “Portal” killer. They just did search great, cut a business deal with Yahoo and stuck innovating on core search.

The same is true for Blekko they need to do something really great and stay with it. The “we are not Google” message is a red flag. Instead, I’d like to hear how they see user behavior changing and how they can better serve users in finding and navigating to people or content.

Search is pretty simple: have users find what they are looking for. I’d like to hear Bleeko talk about that rather than the defensive we are not Google story.