About.me Buys Itself Back from AOL

Here’s your next challenge as a founder of a start-up: Sell your company to a digital behemoth for tens of millions of dollars, then buy it back for a fraction of the cost. Oh, and keep the change.

On Monday, About.me, an online identity Web site, announced that it had done just that, buying itself back from AOL, which acquired the company two years ago.

About.me lets people create a digital business card with links to sites like Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

Tony Conrad, a venture capital investor and co-founder of About.me, said in a phone interview that he chose to repurchase his start-up because he thought it could thrive in a more autonomous setting.

“I think we can build it so much faster, and so much better, by making it independent again,” he said. “There’s no obvious leverage in being part f the AOL media network, and there’s no synergy and integration.”

Mr. Conrad, along with Ryan Freitas, also a co-founder of About.me, will take full control of the site this week. AOL did not return a request for comment.

AOL’s decision to offload About.me is another signal that AOL is not interested in competing with social media Web sites, like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google Plus, which are all vying to become the billboard for people’s online identities.

But where AOL is turning away, Mr. Conrad says he sees opportunity.

“People shouldn’t leave it to Google to define who they are based on an algorithm,” Mr. Conrad said, adding that there is not one place that defines a person’s identity online. “Facebook is your social graph; Twitter your communications network; LinkedIn is great for people that have real accomplishments, but it’s not their real identity.”

Over the last year, AOL has been slicing and dicing products that do not fit into its media fruit bowl. The company has cut staff that were part of the AOL Instant Messenger group and is continuing to focus its energies on content acquisitions, including The Huffington Post and TechCrunch.

Although Mr. Conrad would not disclose the exact amount he paid to buy back About.me, he said that it was a fraction of what AOL had paid, adding that it had simply became “a cost center to AOL.”

About.me also plans to announce a $5.7 million financing round this week with money coming from several Silicon Valley venture firms including True Ventures, where Mr. Conrad is a partner, Google Ventures, Founder Collective, CrunchFund andRon Conway, one of Silicon Valley’s most prolific investors. AOL will maintain an 8 percent ownership stake in the company.