Interview: Brad Garlinghouse, President, AOL Internet and Mobile Communications

Until now, most of Tim Armstrong’s hires since he joined AOL (NYSE: TWX) as CEO have been in advertising or the business side, including a number from his former employer Google. Newest hire Brad Garlinghouse is a switch in both cases: a product guy from portal competitor Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO). Garlinghouse was exploring companies big and small as possible landing points, working as a senior adviser at Silver Lake Partners, when Armstrong called with an unexpected opportunity just weeks ago. Tuesday, he’ll be introduced as AOL’s president of internet and mobile communications. He spoke with paidContent on the eve of the announcement. Some excerpts follow:…