In a recent LinkedIn post, Bill shared, “When your daughter asks if you’d be willing to work a shift in customer service at her startup, the only right answer is yes.”
Phoebe, the youngest daughter of Bill and his ex-wife Melinda French Gates, co-founded Phia in April, an AI-powered shopping platform, with her Stanford University roommate Sophia Kianni.
Despite their prominence, Bill and Melinda have opted not to financially back Phoebe’s venture. However, the Gates family has been vocal in helping raise the company’s profile, using their global platforms to promote the business, as reported by Inc. magazine.
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Bill Gates and daughter Phoebe Gates. Photo courtesy of Bill Gates’ Instagram |
In his post, the billionaire philanthropist explained that he has long considered how technology can drive efficiency, equity, and accessibility. “But I’ve learned over the years that the best way to understand how something works, or where it breaks, is to go straight to the people using it,” he noted.
He also expressed admiration for Phoebe and Kianni’s entrepreneurial efforts to reinvent the shopping experience. The Microsoft founder said he wanted to immerse himself in the project to gain a deeper understanding of the business from the ground up.
Accompanying his post, Bill shared a video of user feedback from Phia’s app, where one user complimented its positive impact. He responded, “That’s impressive,” to which Phoebe quipped, “She means the tech, not you, dad.”
The father-daughter duo ended their post by encouraging users to keep sharing feedback, with Bill emphasizing, “The best products get better with feedback,” while Phoebe assured users that “every single one” is read, even the most eccentric ones.
Phoebe also appeared on her father’s 2024 Netflix series “What’s Next? The Future with Bill Gates,” where Gates described their conversation in New York City as his “favorite” of the series, according to People.
Before launching Phia, Phoebe considered dropping out of Stanford to focus on her startup, but Bill opposed the decision. In the early stages of Phia, Phoebe also sought advice from her mother Melinda on how to deal with recurring questions about her motherhood plans. Melinda’s advice was direct: “Get up or get out the game.“
