A biz journal that relies on tech coverage rather than real estate

Dean Rotbart of Business News Luminaries spoke with Pacific Coast Business Times editor and founder Henry Dubroff about his decision to become his own boss.

Dubroff started the Pacific Coast Business Journal on March 17, 2000. It serves Santa Barbara, Ventura, and San Luis Obispo counties in California.

“It was insanity and chutzpah and a desire to be my own boss,” said Dubroff. He left American City Business Journals and the Denver Business Journal and realized he did not want to compete with it head-on.

“One of the things we did early on with content was rely heavily on technology. We didn’t build the traditional commercial real estate and retail” coverage emphasis, said Dubroff. “We had technology, and biotech has become very big around here.”

Dubroff looked at other areas of California, but felt that the central coast of the state was an opportunity geographically and because of the subject matter.

He raised a small amount of angel capital. The paper has eight shareholders, including his 92-year-old mother. Dubroff was also an early investor in TheStreet.com and sold those shares.

“The main thing is to find capital at the lowest possible price in terms of the equity that you’re giving up, and the intellectual equity you’re giving up,” said Dubroff. He said his investors were interested in seeing the community have another way to receive information about what’s going on in business.

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