Before launching her $8 million startup, Phoebe Gates turned to her billionaire founder parents for advice. After all, when your dad is the cofounder of Microsoft, he might know a thing or two about building a business.
The 23-year-old daughter of Bill and Melinda French Gates recalled the guidance they shared wasn’t about money. Instead, the thing that could make or break a product’s success, they advised, is your team.
“The people that you build with, who you’re at the office until 1 a.m. with—even, it comes down to the summer intern you have. The people that you choose to build with every single day, whether that’s your incredible co-founder, like I have Sophia—that’s what’s actually going to define, you know, whether the product succeeds,” Gates told Fortune in an episode of the Term Sheet podcast.
As she worked alongside her peers, that advice quickly proved true. Gates realized the importance of surrounding herself with like-minded people who shared her vision for Phia, the new fashion-tech startup she launched with her Stanford roommate Sophia Kianni.
Since its debut in April 2025, the AI-powered shopping assistant has attracted over 500,000 users and partnered with more than 5,000 brands.
