About Us

What's Going On Here?

The Bold Italic is an experiment in local discovery.

Just when you thought you were a pretty savvy local, along came The Bold Italic. Our mission is to help people become better locals, equipping our members with rare local intel, backstory and potential adventures.

Our writers, the Bold Locals, find their way behind-the-scenes in San Francisco and come back with backstories of distinctive, offbeat local experiences.

A San Franciscan, such as yourself, can keep pieces of these backstories -- a particular merchant, landmark, or product -- in the Clipbook. That's the tab on the left with shapes on it.

The Clipbook is a place to collect your local intelligence and a launchpad for local exploration. See the plus sign next to all the places we mention? Click the plus sign to add something to said Clipbook.

We believe local merchants are inseparable from the city's community. The bumper sticker version of this is "Merchants are People Too." We don't hawk their stuff or host reviews, but we do include merchants in our quest for fascinating local backstories. Later on, we plan to offer tools to help match merchants with potential customers who share their passions.

Why The Name?

The Bold Italic is determined to emphasize the culture of our city twice over.

Who Are These People?

The Bold Locals are a cast of salient San Franciscans. They're selected by The Bold Italic team for their authenticity, their dynamic personalities and their unique take on the city. Some are steady contributors, and others drop by occasionally. A Bold Local isn't just a great storyteller or a wordsmith. They're people with real local experience to share.

Where Did This Come From?

In our research, we found communities are fragmented, and people are hungry for experiences that connect them to other people. Commerce is the glue that binds together culture and community, and local merchants make communities thrive. But existing local media often misses the point. Lots of resources give places to go, but nobody does a good job of explaining why to go there. The Bold Italic can give people a reason to connect with their communities.

Our goal was to design a product that makes everyone-merchants and customers-better locals.

Several prototypes later, and with the help of the web development whizzes at Pivotal Labs, The Bold Italic was born.

What Do You Mean This Is An Experiment?

This is not a finished product. Not by a long shot. The Bold Italic is in Beta, and we're trying new things all the time. We can't wait for you to visit our feedback forums and give us your honest take. And we hope you'll check back often to see The Bold Italic grow.