Creator of first computer virus takes on Google search

Stealth is a part of him!  He created the first computer virus and many other things… noteworthy ones.  Now he is taking on Google.  In search engine technology.  He has already got funding for USD 2 million from Baseline Ventures but is working out of his garage.  He has a web site blekko.  A small cartoon figure made in a garage adorns the web site!

Rich Skrenta, who created the first computer virus (Elk Cloner), co-founded the Open Directory Project, and co-founded online news site Topix, may have bitten off the biggest challenge of his career – taking on Google. In search.

He is not a big fan of Google pagerank, he says.  But how he is going to tackle Google search?  It will include improvements to backend indexing & querying and the user experience.  The first public prototype will be ready in 2009.  The world knows he is serious and not laughing him off..

Normally an entrepreneur announcing they’re taking on Google with a six person team and just $2 million in funding would either be laughed at or ignored. In Skrenta’s case, he has proven himself more than once as capable of taking on big challenges and winning. This will be a company to watch, and speculate on, in 2008.

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