Dan Pulcrano
Encyclopedia
Dan Pulcrano is a journalist, newspaper owner and Web executive in San Jose, California. He is CEO and executive editor of Metro Silicon Valley, Silicon Valley’s alternative newsweekly, as well as its sister publications, Santa Cruz Weekly
and the North Bay Bohemian
(Santa Rosa). He also runs Boulevards
New Media, a national leader in online city guides.
. At age 19, he went to Los Angeles to help publisher Jay Levin
launch the LA Weekly
.
community of Los Gatos. The startup was a direct challenge to the Los Gatos Times-Observer, published since 1881. The young newspaper thrived and Pulcrano engineered the purchase of the Times-Observer in 1990 and merged the two publications into the Los Gatos Weekly-Times.
Three years after founding the Los Gatos Weekly, Pulcrano expanded his efforts into the Silicon Valley region with the launch of Metro. Inspired by Levin’s LA Weekly
and the alt-weeklies that were then appearing in major American cities, Metro offered sharp-edged political analysis as well as comprehensive calendar listings, music reviews and critical coverage of the performing and visual arts, as well as movie reviews. Based in downtown San Jose, which had been in a state of decline for two decades, Metro championed arts, independent cinema, small theater and retail revitalization in the city's core. Pulcrano led the effort to establish the San Jose Downtown Association and a business improvement district as part of Metro's efforts to support San Jose's urban rebirth.
Over the next decade, Pulcrano oversaw the purchase and startups of five more community weekly newspapers in Santa Clara County, including the Saratoga News, Cupertino Courier, Sunnyvale Sun, Willow Glen Resident and Campbell Reporter. In 1999, these newspapers and the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, were spun off as the Silicon Valley Community Newspapers group, and sold to Metro co-founder David Cohen. They are now owned by Dean Singleton’s MediaNews Corp.
In 1994, Pulcrano returned to his college town of Santa Cruz, CA to launch Metro Santa Cruz and purchased the Sonoma County Independent. In 2000, he rebranded the publication North Bay Bohemian
to support the Santa Rosa paper’s expanded coverage of Napa and Marin counties. Metro Santa Cruz was renamed Santa Cruz Weekly
in 2009.
The following year, he launched Boulevards New Media, with the stated intention of "inventing the local media of the future." The company is built around a Pulcrano’s portfolio of “cityname.com” Web domains, including Seattle.com, SanFrancisco.com, LosAngeles.com, Philadelphia.com and more than 100 others –- including 20 of the nation’s top 30 markets.
Boulevards today holds a unique position among Silicon Valley Internet companies: It has never been sold, acquired, venture-funded or taken public.
Pulcrano served as Chairman of the Board of Associated Cities, LLC for two years in 2006 & 2007. He continues to write, and to oversee operations in both his newspaper and online ventures.
Santa Cruz Weekly
Santa Cruz Weekly, a free-circulation weekly newspaper published in Santa Cruz, California began publishing under its current name on May 6, 2009...
and the North Bay Bohemian
North Bay Bohemian
The North Bay Bohemian is a free weekly newspaper published in the North Bay subregion of the San Francisco Bay Area, in California, United States...
(Santa Rosa). He also runs Boulevards
Boulevards
Boulevards is a network of city guides on the Internet established in 1994 by Boulevards New Media Inc., an early digital media pioneer. It preceded other city guide networks such as Citysearch and Microsoft's now-defunct Sidewalk.com product, which launched under a similarly metaphorical brand and...
New Media, a national leader in online city guides.
Early life and career
Born in suburban New Jersey, where his parents were school teachers, Pulcrano entered the publishing field while still in junior high, when he produced an “underground newspaper” at the Wardlaw Country Day School in Plainfield, NJ. He was asked to leave the school as a result and attended public schools afterwards, graduating at 16 and joining the staff of the San Diego ReaderSan Diego Reader
The San Diego Reader is the largest alternative press paper in the county of San Diego, distributed free in stands and private businesses throughout the county, funded by advertisements...
. At age 19, he went to Los Angeles to help publisher Jay Levin
Jay Levin
Jay Levin is an American journalist who was founder and editor of the LA Weekly, one of the seminal newspapers of the weekly alternative press in the United States, from 1978 to 1991.-Early life:...
launch the LA Weekly
LA Weekly
LA Weekly is a free weekly tabloid-sized "alternative weekly" in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1978 by Editor/Publisher Jay Levin and a board of directors that included actor-producer Michael Douglas...
.
Weekly Newspapers
After graduating from University of California at Santa Cruz, Pulcrano founded the Los Gatos Weekly in the Silicon ValleySilicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a term which refers to the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California in the United States. The region is home to many of the world's largest technology corporations...
community of Los Gatos. The startup was a direct challenge to the Los Gatos Times-Observer, published since 1881. The young newspaper thrived and Pulcrano engineered the purchase of the Times-Observer in 1990 and merged the two publications into the Los Gatos Weekly-Times.
Three years after founding the Los Gatos Weekly, Pulcrano expanded his efforts into the Silicon Valley region with the launch of Metro. Inspired by Levin’s LA Weekly
LA Weekly
LA Weekly is a free weekly tabloid-sized "alternative weekly" in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1978 by Editor/Publisher Jay Levin and a board of directors that included actor-producer Michael Douglas...
and the alt-weeklies that were then appearing in major American cities, Metro offered sharp-edged political analysis as well as comprehensive calendar listings, music reviews and critical coverage of the performing and visual arts, as well as movie reviews. Based in downtown San Jose, which had been in a state of decline for two decades, Metro championed arts, independent cinema, small theater and retail revitalization in the city's core. Pulcrano led the effort to establish the San Jose Downtown Association and a business improvement district as part of Metro's efforts to support San Jose's urban rebirth.
Over the next decade, Pulcrano oversaw the purchase and startups of five more community weekly newspapers in Santa Clara County, including the Saratoga News, Cupertino Courier, Sunnyvale Sun, Willow Glen Resident and Campbell Reporter. In 1999, these newspapers and the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, were spun off as the Silicon Valley Community Newspapers group, and sold to Metro co-founder David Cohen. They are now owned by Dean Singleton’s MediaNews Corp.
In 1994, Pulcrano returned to his college town of Santa Cruz, CA to launch Metro Santa Cruz and purchased the Sonoma County Independent. In 2000, he rebranded the publication North Bay Bohemian
North Bay Bohemian
The North Bay Bohemian is a free weekly newspaper published in the North Bay subregion of the San Francisco Bay Area, in California, United States...
to support the Santa Rosa paper’s expanded coverage of Napa and Marin counties. Metro Santa Cruz was renamed Santa Cruz Weekly
Santa Cruz Weekly
Santa Cruz Weekly, a free-circulation weekly newspaper published in Santa Cruz, California began publishing under its current name on May 6, 2009...
in 2009.
Online Pioneer
As the newspaper group flourished, Pulcrano launched one of Silicon Valley’s first online community portals. In 1993, as a board member of the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies, he wrote a paper called: The Alternative Press at the Crossroads: Will We Be Players in the New Information Age Or Road Kill on the Digital Highway? That same year, he launched Livewire, an early online player offering email, newsgroups, networking and live chatrooms.The following year, he launched Boulevards New Media, with the stated intention of "inventing the local media of the future." The company is built around a Pulcrano’s portfolio of “cityname.com” Web domains, including Seattle.com, SanFrancisco.com, LosAngeles.com, Philadelphia.com and more than 100 others –- including 20 of the nation’s top 30 markets.
Boulevards today holds a unique position among Silicon Valley Internet companies: It has never been sold, acquired, venture-funded or taken public.
Pulcrano served as Chairman of the Board of Associated Cities, LLC for two years in 2006 & 2007. He continues to write, and to oversee operations in both his newspaper and online ventures.