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Charting one’s own path in a tech industry pioneered by her two legendary parents.
This is where I found energetic Phia co-founder Phoebe Gates, 23, as she stepped to the podcast mic with me at Yahoo Finance’s New York City headquarters.
Invest in Gold
“My primary motivation is I have a chip on my shoulder to build something generational that has no ties to my privilege or my last name. That’s truly an excellent experience for consumers where you want to come to,” Gates told me in a new episode of the Opening Bid Unfiltered podcast (video above; listen in below).
The youngest child of Microsoft (MSFT) co-founder Bill Gates and his former wife and philanthropist, Melinda French Gates, Phoebe Gates is trying to shake up the shopping experience with Phia, whose AI-powered shopping assistant scours the web for deals on fashionable apparel and accessories. It also connects to secondhand platforms to help users save money and prevent waste.
“We can actually make [online shopping] delightful in a way that’s consumer first and not just, hey, why don’t you open up 100 different tabs on Google Shopping that are all ad-driven for me,” Gates said.
Launched in April 2025, Phia is run by Gates and her friend Sophia Kianni. So far, the company has raised more than $40 million from a series of high-profile investors, including Kleiner Perkins, Kris Jenner, and Hailey Bieber.
Gates has taken the baton in being the most public-facing of the Gates’ three children and is also co-host of the popular podcast The Burnouts.
“So I think really from both of them, both my mom, with her management experience, and my dad’s experience at Microsoft, I learned a lot about team management over time,” Gates said of her famous parents. She also noted that she expects to stay in build mode at Phia for some time.
“I want to build this, frankly, for the next 30-plus years of my life,” Gates said.
Each week, Yahoo Finance Executive Editor Brian Sozzi fields insight-filled conversations and chats with the biggest names in business and markets on Opening Bid Unfiltered. You can find more episodes on our video hub or watch on your preferred streaming service.
Brian Sozzi is Yahoo Finance’s Executive Editor and a member of Yahoo Finance’s editorial leadership team. Follow Sozzi on X @BrianSozzi, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Tips on stories? Email brian.sozzi@yahoofinance.com.