Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is back in the startup world—but this time, not as a billionaire investor or tech visionary. Instead, he clocked in for a shift in customer service at his daughter Phoebe Gates’ new AI-powered fashion startup, Phia.
In a LinkedIn post, Gates revealed that Phoebe asked if he’d be willing to work alongside her team in customer support. His response? “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 child of Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates, co-founded Phia with her Stanford roommate Sophia Kianni. The platform, described as the “Booking.com of fashion,” uses AI to compare prices across more than 40,000 websites, highlighting both new and second-hand options. Available as a browser extension and app, Phia aims to make shopping smarter, cheaper, and more sustainable.
A Lesson in Leadership
For Gates, joining the customer service team wasn’t just a gesture of parental support—it was a leadership exercise. “The best way to understand how something works—or where it breaks—is to go straight to the people using it,” he wrote. The approach mirrors other CEOs who’ve spent time on the front lines, like Uber’s Dara Khosrowshahi, who once delivered food and drove passengers to better understand the customer experience.
Gates admitted he was both excited and a little nervous, joking that he hoped he wouldn’t “break anything.” He praised Phoebe and Kianni’s mission of reshaping shopping with AI to encourage sustainability and affordability.
Why Gates Didn’t Invest Directly
Interestingly, Gates revealed earlier this year that he chose not to invest in Phia. Speaking on a podcast, he said he worried that investing would make him too hands-on, leading to unwanted oversight. “I would have kept her on a short leash and been doing business reviews,” Gates explained. Instead, he offered guidance on staffing while leaving funding to other backers.
That decision allowed Phoebe and Kianni to build the company on their own terms while still benefiting from Gates’ decades of business wisdom.
Lessons From Melinda French Gates
Phoebe has also leaned on advice from her mother, Melinda French Gates. On the Call Her Daddy podcast, she shared how potential investors questioned her and Kianni about what would happen if they chose to have children. Frustrated, Phoebe called her mom, who told her: “Get up or get out of the game, sis.”
Both founders agreed that the line of questioning showed a persistent bias in venture capital. Kianni recalled asking one male investor what would happen to his firm when he had kids. His confused reply—“Why would that affect anything?”—proved her point.
Looking Ahead
From working customer service to offering advice from the sidelines, Bill Gates is showing that support for family can be as important as funding. For Phoebe and Sophia, Phia is more than a startup—it’s part of a new wave of AI tools reshaping how we shop online.
And for Gates, it’s a reminder that leadership sometimes means putting on a headset, answering questions, and learning directly from customers—just like any other startup employee.