During a discussion today at the Under The Radar conference, August Capital general partner David Hornik said that the type of search startup he's looking to fund is one that would help him make a smarter barbecue purchase. He said there is not a single site he knows of out there suggesting which grill is best to buy based on features, prices and proximity to his house.

Entrepreneurs and venture capitalists should take note. It's another sign that all things old are new again. There was a well-funded barbecue-focused dot com called BBQ.com that disappeared soon after the bubble burst. It never incorporated local search but did enable feature and price comparisons. Its assets were purchased and it's now a basic e-commerce site.

For those interested in trying to address Hornik's comments with a startup, this time around, the key to success is to develop the comparison shopping and search technology that can provide information about multiple products, rather than just barbecues. Oh yeah, and another lesson from the past is don't include pet food as a category.

Tags: augustcapital, david+hornik, undertheradar, vc, venture capital