AUSTIN, Tex. — For most entrepreneurs, running a Web site that is rife with pornography and frequently criticized as a menace to society would not be considered a résumé booster. Many venture capitalists would head in the opposite direction.

But Christopher Poole, the 23-year-old founder of 4chan, one of the largest forums on the Internet and widely considered to be one of the darkest corners of the Web, has never shied away from his first creation.

In fact, he has deftly managed to transform the notorious popularity of 4chan, which he said has a staggering 12 million visitors a month, into a launching pad for his successful career as a public speaker, an adviser at the investment fund Lerer Ventures and as the founder of the new Web site.

It has received financing from such respected venture capitalists as Ron Conway, a noted Silicon Valley investor who was one of the earliest investors in Google, Kenneth Lerer, a founder of The Huffington Post, and Joshua Schachter, who created Delicious, the popular social bookmarking service that Yahoo bought.