Paul Carr didn’t just bite the hand that fed him — he also managed to shake a little money loose from it.
The former TechCrunch columnist — who resigned last week in protest over TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington’s ouster — has started a new company. And he’s using his former employer’s money to do it.
Carr announced his new venture on his blog Friday, noting that it’s being funded with seed money from CrunchFund — which, while run by Arrington and Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh, receives half of its funding from AOL.
Also read: Mutiny on the TechCrunch? First Writer Resigns Post-Arrington Ouster
While short on specifics about the new venture (aside from the fact that it will be based in Las Vegas, to boost Hsieh’s Downtown Project to attract innovative companies to downtown Vegas), Carr took great glee in detailing the source of his income.
“Having Michael’s backing through CrunchFund is awesome for two reasons. First, I love working with him and am really happy to have the opportunity to do so again so soon after the whole TechCrunch/AOL debacle,” Carr wrote. “And second, half of the money in the CrunchFund comes from AOL. I mean — ha! AOL!”
Carr detailed his disenchantment with AOL — which had acquired TechCrunch last September — in his final column for TechCrunch on Sept. 16, just days after Arrington’s ouster amid fallout from CrunchFund.
Also read: TechCrunch-AOL Fracas: Michael Arrington Asks AOL to Sell the Blog
Hufington Post founder Arianna Huffington defended Arrington’s ouster at TheWrap’s leadership summit TheGrill on Tuesday, saying that the founding of the CrunchFund venture capital fund — which potentially could have funded startups covered by TechCrunch — would have made it impossible for him to continue as TechCrunch editor.
“Michael is somebody who built and amazing site, and I have no doubt that he’ll be a great head of a VC fund, but he just can’t be both at once,” Huffington said. “It’s one of those black-and-white issues.”