From Dorm Rooms to $8 Million in Funding: Life Lessons from the Founders of Phia

Ambition 2.0

Girlboss

Entrepreneurship, Business, Careers

4.4 • 1.9K Ratings

🗓️ 29 October 2025

⏱️ 41 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In the debut episode of Ambition 2.0, host Amanda Goetz sits down with Phoebe Gates and Sophia Kianni—the visionary co-founders of Phia, the AI-powered shopping assistant backed by Hailey Bieber, Kris Jenner, Sheryl Sandberg, and other major investors. From meeting as college roommates at Stanford and launching Phia as a class project to raising an $8M seed round for their company, Phoebe and Sophia have been through it all together. They get candid about building a tech startup from scratch, navigating friendship as co-founders, and learning how to set boundaries to avoid burnout. They open up about: The real meaning of work-life balance (and does it even exist?) Why personal branding is a superpower for founders The “ground rules” that keep their friendship—and business—thriving Lessons from their fundraising journey and startup leadership The creative philosophy behind their own podcast, The Burnouts Whether you’re an aspiring entrepreneur or just love a good founder origin story, this episode dives deep into ambition, friendship, and what it takes to build something groundbreaking. (00:00) Intro (03:50) The origin story of Phia (05:18) Building the Phia team and shaping company culture (11:50) Raising $8M with high-profile investors (14:15) Friendship “ground rules” for co-founders (23:10) Burnout, boundaries, and balance (28:42) Work-life balance (30:45) Why personal branding matters more than ever (32:00) Rapid-fire questions (38:23) Advice for aspiring entrepreneurs GUEST LINKS Phoebe Gates: https://www.instagram.com/phoebegates/ Sophia Kianni: https://www.instagram.com/sophiakianni/ Phia: https://www.instagram.com/phiaco/ The Burnouts Podcast: https://www.instagram.com/theburnouts/ FOLLOW THE PODCAST IG: https://www.instagram.com/girlboss/ | TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@girlboss Amanda Goetz: https://www.instagram.com/theamandagoetz/ https://girlboss.com/pages/ambition-2-0-podcast SIGN UP Subscribe to the Girlboss Daily newsletter, filled with career inspiration and intel for ambitious women: https://newsletter.girlboss.com/ For all other Girlboss links: https://linkin.bio/girlboss/ DISCLAIMER This episode is sponsored by Semrush. Check out Semrush One, the only solution built for the next era of search. It unites Semrush’s leading traditional SEO tools with powerful AI search capabilities, all in one place, so you can make smarter, faster marketing decisions. Search moves fast, and you should have the right solution to stay ahead of the curve. Trusted by 10M+ marketers worldwide, try it today at semrush.com. #Ambition2Point0 #PhoebeGates #SophiaKianni #PhiaAI #GirlbossPodcast #WomenInBusiness #AIShopping #Startups #FemaleFounders Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	This episode is sponsored by Sem Rush.
0:02.5	Search is changing fast and AI answers are reshaping how people find brands.
0:07.6	With Sem Rush 1, you can track how your brand shows up across Google, chat GPT, and beyond.
0:13.2	One solution to win every search.
0:15.7	Trusted by more than 10 million marketers worldwide.
0:18.9	Try it for free now at Semrush.com. That's S-E-M-R-U-S-H.com.
0:25.2	I think of life as kind of like a stove and you have the ability to turn on and off different
0:30.5	burners. And for me, when I think about like my 20s and 30s, like I'm turning the work burner on
0:35.6	max. And so that means like turning down a little bit
0:38.4	the time I get to spend with family. I don't have kids. So I'm able to turn that down and say, hey, parents, I'll call you, you know, in two weeks. I'm turning down that social life burner. And I'm really indexing on work. And over time, I'll be able to turn on those other burners and focus on those more. But I know that I'm firing on
0:55.6	all cylinders right now on work and you have to enjoy and love that. I don't think it's possible,
1:00.3	frankly, to be an entrepreneur and to have, you know, your social life also on a max burner during
1:06.1	your 20s. Welcome to Ambition 2.0, the new podcast from Girl Boss, where we explore what it really takes and
1:21.7	costs to have it all in work, life, family, and self. I'm your host, Amanda Gatz, a two-time founder,
1:27.4	four-time CMO, mom of three,
1:29.4	an author of the new book, Toxic Grit, How to Have It All, and actually love what you have.
1:33.7	I'm so excited about today's guests. We have two women that are really inspiring the next
1:40.6	generation of founders, Phoebe Gates and Sophia Keani, the co-founders of Fia, an AI-powered shopping assistant
1:47.5	that's aiming to change the way we buy, sell, and interact with fashion.
1:50.9	And they're also the co-hosts of the Burnouts Podcasts on the Unwell Network.
1:55.9	Today we're going to really dive into building in the public eye, being underestimated,
2:00.8	how friendship can fuel business
	...

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