Marina Glad: Rebuilding Confidence in Job Interviews with Duos AI

Marina, what inspired you to build Duos?

I entered this field out of deep personal frustration. I saw too many incredibly smart and talented people get rejected not because of their skills, but because they couldn’t “sell” themselves — especially in English.

I’ve worked in marketing, research, and HR, but when I started exploring career coaching and AI-powered tools, everything clicked. That was the first time I saw a way to use my full skill set to solve a real, painful problem.

With Duos, we don’t just give advice — we help people actually practice and build the confidence they need. The app offers personalized guidance, emotional support, and structured feedback. It’s like having a coach, a mirror, and a cheerleader in your pocket.

What sets us apart is how human we are. I write and illustrate every message myself. I talk to users daily. We’re bootstrapped, user-obsessed, and proud of that.

Ultimately, my mission is simple: no one should lose an opportunity because they weren’t born into the right accent, passport, or network.

What feedback have you received from your early users, and how has it influenced your roadmap?

Our early users say things like “Duos felt like a friend”, “This helped me get unstuck”, or “I finally understood what I was doing wrong”.

They’ve pushed us to personalize faster by building onboarding that adapts to your role, to improve speaking practice with voice-based coaching, and to simplify feedback by rewriting insights in plain, kind English.

Everything we build now is shaped by their stories. They don’t need a chatbot. They need support. And that’s what Duos is becoming.

Can you share a story from your journey that shows your resilience?

A few years ago, I moved to a new country with no job, no local network, and no clear path forward. I had more than a decade of experience — and suddenly, I felt invisible.

I started from zero. I worked side jobs, improved my English, taught myself to code, and shared the idea for Duos with anyone who’d listen.

There was no team. No funding. Just this stubborn belief that we could build something better for job seekers.

Eventually, I convinced my family to join. We worked nights. We failed and rebuilt. The app crashed before launch. Investors said we were “too early.” But we kept going.

Today, we have early users who love the product. And that journey taught me that resilience isn’t just about pushing — it’s about trusting the process, even when no one else sees what you see.

How do you stay motivated and inspired under pressure?

I go back to my “why.” I created Duos to make sure no one feels lost or alone before a job interview. When stress hits, I reread messages from our users. I look at their success stories. Even on the hardest days, that mission keeps me grounded.

I also build tiny rituals — drawing for five minutes, dancing in the kitchen, stepping away to breathe. I don’t try to be a machine. I just try to stay kind to myself and keep moving.

And honestly? Sometimes I keep going because I know people are counting on me. That’s pressure, but it’s also a huge honor.

What principles do you follow when building your team?

I build for people, not roles.

Our team is remote, gender-diverse, and inclusive. We support moms on parental leave, LGBTQ+ folks, and anyone who’s been told they’re “too different.” Because in Duos, the difference is the strength.

I look for brave, sharp, kind humans — people I’d trust on a mountain expedition or a cross-Atlantic trip. We don't hustle culture. We care about growth, support, and doing work that matters.

What’s your biggest learning as a founder so far?

That no one is coming to save you. And that’s okay. Being a founder means learning to trust your gut, even when you feel like an impostor. It means making hundreds of tiny decisions daily, often without validation.

But the biggest lesson? Build something people actually want, not something you think they should want. Talk to users. Listen more than you speak. And when you feel lost, go back to the problem you’re solving. Not the tech. Not the hype. The problem.

What is the long-term vision for Duos AI? Do you see Duos evolving into something beyond interview prep — and if so, what’s next?

Absolutely — interview prep is just the beginning. Duos is evolving into a career coach in your pocket, one that goes beyond preparing you for interviews to helping you build self-awareness, confidence, and authentic communication skills.

Long term, we see Duos supporting users with language coaching for non-native speakers, personalized AI-driven learning paths based on individual goals and gaps, and eventually, tools for employers that prioritize people over filtering them out.

Our deeper mission is to fix hiring — to move past outdated CVs and awkward interviews and instead build a system where people feel truly seen. We want job seekers to trust Duos because it helps them grow, and we want companies to recognize the real, human value of the people they meet.

Duos is not a gatekeeper. It’s a guide.

Have you raised funds from family and friends?

Yes. Duos was a family project from the start — my co-founders are my brother and cousin. We put in our savings and built it ourselves.

Now that the product is 90% complete and already delivering value to early users, we’re preparing for our first external investment round. We’re ready to grow — we just need the right partners.

What’s your current fundraising goal, and how do you plan to use the funds?

We’re raising a pre-seed round of €500K. The funds will go toward expanding our content and AI team, finishing role-based simulations across industries, and growing our user base through partnerships and B2B pilots. We’ve built 99% percent of the product with love, grit, and family savings, and 1% with AI magic.  This round is to go from early traction to real growth and to bring this vision to every job seeker who needs it.

What kind of investors would be the right fit for Duos — and what values matter most to you in potential partners?

We’re looking for partners who care about people as much as product. Someone who values user trust over vanity metrics. Someone who’s not afraid of hard problems like language bias, confidence gaps, and inequity in hiring and sees the long game. We’re bootstrapped, scrappy, and very real. We want investors who aren’t just writing checks but joining a mission. If you’re excited by high impact and thoughtful tech, let’s talk.