Tech billionaire Bill Gates’ youngest daughter Phoebe recalls Bluetooth tampon idea as ‘first big failure’

By Phong Ngo   May 20, 2025 | 03:24 pm PT
Phoebe Gates, the youngest daughter of billionaire Bill Gates, recently opened up about her business idea, a Bluetooth-enabled tampon, describing it as her “first big failure”.

In a recent episode of her podcast "The Burnouts," Phoebe and her co-host and business partner, Sophia Kianni, the 22-year-old Stanford alum looked back at their time applying for Stanford’s "Lean Launchpad" course, which challenges students to develop startup concepts.

Inspired by her background in pre-med and reproductive health, Phoebe proposed a tech-enhanced tampon designed to monitor hormone levels and detect conditions like anemia during menstruation, Tatler reported.

At the time, Kianni — now the youngest climate advisor to the United Nations in U.S. history — said she thought the idea was brilliant.

Bill Gates and daughter Phoebe Gates. Photo courtesy of Bill Gates Instagram

Bill Gates and daughter Phoebe Gates. Photo courtesy of Bill Gates' Instagram

However, the pitch was rejected. Phoebe recalled the feedback: "They asked us "[what] problem does this solve, how would it make money, and what would it be?"’ she recalled, before adding "We couldn’t answer those questions."

She said the experience served as a "good reality check" and their "first big failure of many," which pushed the pair to pursue a new venture. They later co-founded Phia, a shopping app powered by AI that aggregates secondhand and retail fashion listings from across the internet. The app officially went live on April 24.

 
 
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