Choosing What Feels Right: From Observer to Creator

――Could you start by introducing yourself?

I am Fumiya, the CEO of balubo Inc. founded this August. I currently work across two main areas: developing a portfolio matching service for BtoB creators, and providing content production support for BtoB companies and startups as an editor. I grew up in Kashima City, Ibaraki, a fairly quiet rural town where entertainment basically meant karaoke or the local shopping mall. I started playing soccer seriously in third grade and stayed committed to it all the way through university as part of school teams. When it came to job hunting, I felt I was better at writing than speaking, and I wanted a career that could satisfy my curiosity. That led me to apply mainly to newspaper companies and publishers. I also loved fashion and admired editors at magazines like MEN'S NON-NO and Popeye. I was drawn to the glamour of the media world, but unsurprisingly, I was rejected everywhere. Somehow, I ended up joining a recruitment company instead. After spending about a year and a half working in staffing sales, I applied for an internal transfer and moved into the editorial department. I worked as an editor for around a year at Engineer Type, a media outlet for engineers, before moving on to NewsPicks. There, I worked as an editor on sponsored content, mainly covering BtoB industries such as manufacturing and software companies. I had always been strongly inclined toward independence, and over time, the desire to become a creator myself grew stronger. In 2024, I started learning programming, which eventually led me down the path of entrepreneurship. In August 2025, I founded balubo Inc. Today, I run and develop balubo, an AI powered portfolio service for creators, while also building a business around content production by drawing on my background as an editor.

――What led you to become an editor, and later, to go independent?

I became an editor through an internal recruitment program at my company. As a new graduate, I was working in recruitment sales. I found it rewarding to hit numerical targets, but at the same time, I kept asking myself, “What comes after this achievement?” I had always been interested in editing. During my job hunt, I applied to publishers and newspaper companies, so working with words was something I was naturally drawn to. At the time, I vaguely imagined gaining experience in sales first, then eventually moving into a more creative role. That was when I came across an opening for an editor at the company’s owned media outlet, Engineer Type. I applied thinking, “This will probably be difficult anyway,” but that application became the turning point. As for going independent, the trigger came as I approached my 30th birthday and started asking myself, “What do I want to do with the rest of my life?” My workplace at the time was incredibly comfortable. I was surrounded by talented colleagues, and it felt like I could build a stable, secure career if I stayed. But that comfort gradually started to feel unsettling. It was like living in a loving, well-provided family home for too long. At some point, it just didn’t feel right for who I was anymore. I also began to feel that the biggest thing you lose as you get older isn’t money or skills, but physical energy. You rarely hear people who went independent young say they regret it, but you often hear people in their 40s or 50s say, “I wish I had done this sooner.” That made me think it was better to take the leap sooner rather than later. Around the same time, the wave of AI-assisted coding arrived, and I started to feel that even someone without an engineering background might be able to build a product. That realization gave me a huge push. I enrolled in a programming school called G’s Academy, and from there, the idea of starting my own business quickly became concrete.

――Do you remember your very first assignment as an editor?

Yes, I do. I wrote a report about a Mercari event. It was an article related to engineering, and at the time, I had almost no technical knowledge. I struggled to interpret unfamiliar terminology and somehow piece everything together. When I submitted my first draft, it came back covered in red corrections from the editor-in-chief. I remember thinking, “Oh… so this is what editing is like,” laughing to myself. But seeing my article published for the first time was genuinely exciting.

――How do you work on leveling up your skills and maintaining motivation?

I don’t really think about it that consciously. To be honest, rather than actively deciding, “I’m going to study this,” it’s usually more like realizing, “I guess I need to do this now,” and responding to that necessity. What I have done is observe the different “styles” of people I respect. I take parts that I like, combine them, and adapt them into something that feels natural to me. I’m not the type whose motivation swings dramatically, but back when I was playing soccer, I noticed a pattern. Over the course of a year, there would usually be two periods when I felt highly motivated, and two when I didn’t. Since then, I’ve learned to see those phases objectively. I can tell myself, “This is a motivated phase,” or “This is a low energy phase,” without overreacting to either.

――You’ve taken many risks and challenges to get where you are today. How do you make decisions in difficult situations?

I only ask myself “Do I want to do it right now? And if I let this opportunity go, will there be another chance in the future?” If I think the opportunity will still exist later, then maybe it’s okay not to choose it now. But if I feel that my future self probably wouldn’t take it, then I choose it in the moment. I don’t overthink decisions too much. I tend to follow what feels right in the moment, because the future is uncertain, and I have no idea how I’ll be thinking then anyway.

――Is there anything you consider absolutely essential for your work?

My MacBook and iPhone, without question. Recording, planning, interviewing, writing, coding, communication, almost everything I do is handled through those two devices. And maybe my earphones. I usually work while listening to podcasts. I listen to a wide range, but I especially enjoy Shiten Soko, where Kahori Miyake’s fast paced, otaku style delivery is strangely addictive, and Inside Vision, where Shinpei Takagi dives incredibly deep into individual ways of thinking. To be honest, most of it probably isn’t fully sinking in, but it still keeps me company while I work.

――Being able to write while listening to podcasts sounds impressive. Let me ask the next question. As an editor, when do you feel happiest in your work?

There are many moments. When I hear an interesting story during an interview, when I manage to write a piece exactly the way I imagined it, or when I see strong reactions from readers. But if I had to choose, it would be when an interview takes an unexpected turn, and when I’m structuring an article like a puzzle. Sometimes a conversation drifts away from the original plan or direction I had in mind, and suddenly it goes somewhere completely unexpected. That’s when I think, “This is really interesting.” If everything stays neatly within the boundaries of what I imagined, it’s honestly not that exciting. Editing is fascinating because simply changing the order of sentences can completely transform the story. Rearranging that structure like a puzzle, from the opening hook to the final aftertaste, and feeling everything click into place, that’s incredibly satisfying.

――On the other hand, were there moments when things felt so difficult that you wanted to quit?

During my first year as an editor, I lost count of how many times I thought, “Maybe I’m not suited for this,” or “Should I just quit?” The ideas I came up with weren’t interesting, they didn’t get approved, and I kept thinking, “Yeah… I’m probably not cut out for this.” At the time, I actually had another job offer for a business development role at a startup, in addition to my editorial position at NewsPicks. So I decided to give editing one last serious try at NewsPicks. If it still didn’t work out, I would walk away. What I discovered there was just how diverse editors can be. Some people are brilliant at coming up with ideas. Others lean toward a more magazine-like editorial style. Some enjoy starting from abstract concepts, while others excel at presentations. There were editors who loved interviewing above all else, and others who obsessed over every word in captions and fine details. Seeing all that made me realize there isn’t a single ideal image of what an editor should be. Being “good at writing” isn’t the only answer. Everyone has their own strengths, and that’s okay. I started thinking that if I could combine the qualities I admired in different senior editors, I might be able to carve out my own path. From that point on, instead of forcing myself into a predefined mold, I began exploring my own style. That realization was a turning point for me.

――That makes sense. Taking on the challenge helped you discover a new way forward. As you built your career, what kind of doubts or inner conflicts did you face? And why did building your own business become so appealing to you?

The biggest struggle was deciding to leave NewsPicks. The environment was great, the people were amazing, and honestly, there was no logical reason to quit. But I couldn’t ignore the sense of discomfort I felt while working as an editor. I was interviewing entrepreneurs who were taking real risks, asking them about business strategies and paths to success, while I myself hadn’t created anything yet. In a way, I felt like I was observing and evaluating from a safe distance, and that kept bothering me. I realized that if I wanted to truly understand things deeply, I couldn’t stay on the side of the supporter or the observer. Even if it was messy, I needed to step into the position of actually doing it myself. When I thought about risk in life, I also came to believe that the biggest risk in the future wouldn’t be a lack of skills or money, but a loss of physical energy. So I figured that jumping in while I still had the energy would drastically reduce the chance of regret. …That said, after all those well-reasoned explanations, the truth might simply be that I don’t like being told what to do. (Laughs)

――What does being an editor mean to you?

I may still be early in my career, but for me, an editor’s role is about uncovering talents that are hidden in the world, translating them, and helping them be understood. That talent might belong to a person, or it might be the potential of a new technology. Either way, it’s about reshaping that value into the form that communicates most clearly, and delivering it to the people who need it. In that sense, an editor is a kind of bridge.

――That idea really resonates with what we do at umu. How has “editing” influenced your life?

Becoming an editor taught me how to step back and look at things from multiple perspectives. I spent most of my early life focused on soccer, but editing introduced me to professionals from fields I’d never had contact with before, engineers, business leaders, researchers, and more. Seeing the world through their perspectives helped me develop the ability to view things structurally and from multiple angles. This kind of editorial thinking, organizing information, extracting what truly matters, and reconstructing it, is something that directly informs the product development and business building I’m working on now.

――What does Tokyo mean to you?

I really love Tokyo. I grew up in a rural area in Ibaraki, so I couldn’t wait to get out and move to the city. I still clearly remember the excitement of walking down Takeshita Street for the first time, after visiting a university open campus when I was in high school. Tokyo has introduced me to so many people and given me countless experiences. This year, I actually moved to Kamakura, a place I had always wanted to live at least once in my life. But I think I’ll return to Tokyo again when the timing feels right.

――When you imagine the furthest possible version of your future self, what do you see?

Maybe I’ll succeed in business, or maybe I’ll end up living a quiet life in the countryside. I also think it would be interesting to live overseas at some point. Coaching a local kids’ soccer team sounds nice too. Honestly, I don’t think too much about the distant future. I’m the type who chooses what feels interesting right now, so I can’t really say for sure. (Laughs) Rather than planning far ahead, I try to focus on what I want to do in the present. Whether things turn out well or not, taking action still means I’m moving forward, step by step.

――Finally, is there anything you would like to say to your past self, when you were struggling and thinking about your career?

I was never the type to follow a clearly defined goal or ambition. But I think that by repeatedly diving into whatever sparks your curiosity in front of you, you naturally end up encountering interesting experiences along the way.