Startup Now
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About

Capturing where a founder is right now, as a story.

Startup Now is an interview show with startup founders who have just announced a funding round. An announcement alone does not tell you why this person has staked so much on this business, so we go back through childhood, career and the early days of the company to find out.

We spend more time on how a founder’s values were formed than on explaining the product. When an episode ends, we want you to feel like rooting for that founder and their company.

The show at a glance

Started
September 2023
Episodes
237 (about 116 hours in total)
Guests
142 founders and investors
Language
Mostly Japanese. Selected episodes are recorded in English or have English subtitles on YouTube. See the episodes with English summaries.
Where to listen
YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts and more
Recording
StartPods Studio in Shibuya, Tokyo, opened in November 2025 with the support of 249 crowdfunding backers.

Crowdfunding

In the summer of 2025 we ran a crowdfunding campaign on CAMPFIRE to keep the show running and to open a recording studio. 249 backers supported it and the campaign passed its goal. With that support, StartPods Studio opened in Shibuya, Tokyo, in November of the same year.

Amount raised
¥4,297,121 (122% of the ¥3,500,000 goal)
Backers
249
Campaign period
July 2 to August 31, 2025

Host

The host, Inari (Kazuya Inarida)

InariKazuya Inarida, Founder & CEO, JobTales, Inc.

After university he joined Sansan, Inc., where he worked in enterprise sales. Drawn to startups by the founders he saw building new industries, he went on to lead sales and PR at an early-stage NFT startup, then founded JobTales, Inc. in September 2023.

Seeing potential in voice as a way to reach people, he also runs StartPods, a podcast planning and production service.

X (@oinariiisan)

Appearing on the show, tie-ups and sponsorship

  • Appearing on the show: If you are a founder planning a funding announcement, please contact us about a month in advance.
  • Tie-ups and sponsorship: We plan episodes together with startups, companies and investors, and welcome show sponsors. See Tie-ups & Sponsors for how it works and who we have worked with.
  • Feedback and corrections: Messages to the show, and reports of errors on this site, come through the same form.

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