Bill and Melinda Gates’ Different Reactions to Daughter’s Startup
Phoebe Gates, the youngest child of Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates, recently launched an e-commerce app called Phia, co-founded with Sophia Kianni. The platform uses AI to compare prices across over 40,000 websites for new and second-hand fashion items.
When Phoebe told her father about her plans to enter the e-commerce space, he expressed concern, saying, “Wow, a lot of people have tried, and there’s some big guys in there.” Bill Gates was worried that Phoebe might ask for financial help, admitting he would have kept her “on a short leash” and conducted business reviews if he had been more involved.
In contrast, Melinda Gates saw the opportunity as a chance for Phoebe to learn and potentially fail. She advised Phoebe to raise capital on her own, calling herself Phoebe’s “rock.” Phoebe described her mother as supportive of her entrepreneurial endeavor.
Phoebe Gates is notably different from her father, being “good with people,” as she explained in an interview with the New York Times. During family vacations, while Bill Gates preferred to be alone on the beach, Phoebe would interact with people and introduce them to her family.
The e-commerce app, Phia, aims to be the “Booking.com of fashion” by providing instant price comparisons across thousands of e-commerce sites for any item, new or used. The platform was launched earlier this year, marking Phoebe’s entry into the competitive e-commerce market.
Bill Gates acknowledged that Phoebe is “the most different than I am” among his children, highlighting her people skills as a significant difference between them.
