• 微软联合创始人比尔·盖茨与梅琳达·弗伦奇·盖茨的女儿菲比·盖茨（Z世代），与联合创始人索菲娅·基亚尼一起创办了一家名为Phia的人工智能时尚科技初创公司。她在接受《财富》采访时分享了在公司获得800万美元融资前父母给予的最宝贵建议。
在创办自己的800万美元初创公司之前，菲比·盖茨向身价亿万的父母寻求建议。毕竟，他的父亲是微软联合创始人，肯定对创业有些心得。
这位23岁的女孩回忆道，父母给出的建议与金钱无关。相反，他们提醒她，产品成败的关键取决于团队。
菲比在接受《财富》旗下播客节目《Term Sheet》采访时表示：“无论是和你一起在办公室熬夜到凌晨的人，还是暑期实习生，这些每天与你并肩奋斗的人，才是真正决定产品能否成功的关键，比如像我就有索菲娅这样杰出的联合创始人。”
当她与团队并肩奋斗时，这条建议很快得到了验证。菲比意识到，打造能够共享Phia愿景的志同道合团队至关重要。这家公司是她与斯坦福大学室友索菲娅·基亚尼共同创立的全新时尚科技初创企业。
自2025年4月推出以来，这款人工智能购物助手已吸引超50万用户，并与5,000多家品牌建立合作关系。
她表示：“我们是这款产品的日常使用者，因此需要真正了解购物变革方向的投资者。”
毫无疑问，她能为这款应用及移动端浏览器扩展组建起这支优秀团队，正是那些重量级投资者的支持为其打开了成功之门。
《财富》独家获悉，这款产品获得800万美元种子轮融资，由凯鹏华盈（Kleiner Perkins）领投，其他知名投资者包括海莉·比伯、克里斯·詹娜、谢丽尔·桑德伯格、Spanx创始人萨拉·布莱克利、Fanatics CEO迈克尔·鲁宾以及eBay。
她补充道：“对我们来说，关键不仅是让女性参与投资，更重要的是找到真正懂行业痛点的人。”
梅琳达·弗伦奇·盖茨给女儿创业划出底线：绝不给钱
尽管菲比的父母能为女儿打开亿万富翁人脉圈，但身家290亿美元的梅琳达在给钱这件事上毫不让步。
今年6月，这位亿万富翁慈善家、比尔·盖茨的前妻在E.l.f. Beauty主办的“女性体育力量峰会”上直言：“我女儿今年刚创业。她能够获得投资是靠自己的能力，不是靠我的人脉，也不是靠我本人。我更不会投资。”
原因就在于：让她成长。她说，如果这是一家“靠谱的企业”，自然会有其他人愿意投资。而更重要的是，女儿该学会面对融资被拒的挫败感。“这就是我对她说的，她正在从中成长。”梅琳达补充道。
她的前夫比尔·盖茨也持同样态度。这位微软联合创始人早就说过，自己离世后，子女只会继承“不到1%”的财富，因此坚持要求他们靠自己闯出一片天。（*）
译者：刘进龙
审校：汪皓
• 微软联合创始人比尔·盖茨与梅琳达·弗伦奇·盖茨的女儿菲比·盖茨（Z世代），与联合创始人索菲娅·基亚尼一起创办了一家名为Phia的人工智能时尚科技初创公司。她在接受《财富》采访时分享了在公司获得800万美元融资前父母给予的最宝贵建议。
在创办自己的800万美元初创公司之前，菲比·盖茨向身价亿万的父母寻求建议。毕竟，他的父亲是微软联合创始人，肯定对创业有些心得。
这位23岁的女孩回忆道，父母给出的建议与金钱无关。相反，他们提醒她，产品成败的关键取决于团队。
菲比在接受《财富》旗下播客节目《Term Sheet》采访时表示：“无论是和你一起在办公室熬夜到凌晨的人，还是暑期实习生，这些每天与你并肩奋斗的人，才是真正决定产品能否成功的关键，比如像我就有索菲娅这样杰出的联合创始人。”
当她与团队并肩奋斗时，这条建议很快得到了验证。菲比意识到，打造能够共享Phia愿景的志同道合团队至关重要。这家公司是她与斯坦福大学室友索菲娅·基亚尼共同创立的全新时尚科技初创企业。
自2025年4月推出以来，这款人工智能购物助手已吸引超50万用户，并与5,000多家品牌建立合作关系。
她表示：“我们是这款产品的日常使用者，因此需要真正了解购物变革方向的投资者。”
毫无疑问，她能为这款应用及移动端浏览器扩展组建起这支优秀团队，正是那些重量级投资者的支持为其打开了成功之门。
《财富》独家获悉，这款产品获得800万美元种子轮融资，由凯鹏华盈（Kleiner Perkins）领投，其他知名投资者包括海莉·比伯、克里斯·詹娜、谢丽尔·桑德伯格、Spanx创始人萨拉·布莱克利、Fanatics CEO迈克尔·鲁宾以及eBay。
她补充道：“对我们来说，关键不仅是让女性参与投资，更重要的是找到真正懂行业痛点的人。”
梅琳达·弗伦奇·盖茨给女儿创业划出底线：绝不给钱
尽管菲比的父母能为女儿打开亿万富翁人脉圈，但身家290亿美元的梅琳达在给钱这件事上毫不让步。
今年6月，这位亿万富翁慈善家、比尔·盖茨的前妻在E.l.f. Beauty主办的“女性体育力量峰会”上直言：“我女儿今年刚创业。她能够获得投资是靠自己的能力，不是靠我的人脉，也不是靠我本人。我更不会投资。”
原因就在于：让她成长。她说，如果这是一家“靠谱的企业”，自然会有其他人愿意投资。而更重要的是，女儿该学会面对融资被拒的挫败感。“这就是我对她说的，她正在从中成长。”梅琳达补充道。
她的前夫比尔·盖茨也持同样态度。这位微软联合创始人早就说过，自己离世后，子女只会继承“不到1%”的财富，因此坚持要求他们靠自己闯出一片天。（*）
译者：刘进龙
审校：汪皓
• Phoebe Gates, the Gen Z daughter of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates, has launched an AI-powered fashion-tech startup called Phia with co-founder Sophia Kianni. She shared with Fortune the best advice her famous parents gave her, before its $8 million success.
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.
“We are the women who use this product day in and day out. That’s why we wanted to bring people onto our cap table who truly understand how shopping needs to adapt and where it’s headed,” she said.
It’s no doubt when building out the team of her app and mobile browser extension that its prominent backers are what unlocked the door to such success.
Fortune exclusively learned that the product’s $8 million in seed funding is led by Kleiner Perkins, with high-profile investors including Hailey Bieber, Kris Jenner, Sheryl Sandberg, Spanx founder Sara Blakely, Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin, and eBay.
“It was foundational for us not only to have women on our cap table but especially people who deeply understood the problem,” she added.
Melinda French Gates draws the line at writing a check for a start-up
But despite Gates’ parents opening up the door for a substantial rolodex of billionaire contacts, her mother Melinda, who has an estimated $29 billion of net worth, draws the line at career guidance when it comes writing a check.
“I have a daughter who just started a business this year,” the billionaire philanthropist and ex-wife of Bill Gates recently said this June at the Power of Women’s Sports Summit presented by E.l.f. Beauty. “She got capitalized not because of my contacts, not because of me. I wouldn’t put money into it.”
The reason? Growth. If this is a “real business,” she said, then others need to be willing to back it. And more importantly, her daughter should learn how to navigate the sting of rejection if it doesn’t get that funding. “That’s what I told her,” French Gates added. “She’s growing from this.”
Her ex-husband has echoed a similar sentiment; the cofounder has previously said that his children will inherit “less than 1%” of his wealth when he eventually passes away, insisting they should make it into the world alone.