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

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