Why Bill Gates' Daughter Phoebe Thought She'd Be New Elizabeth Holmes
Phoebe Gates once thought she'd excel as a medical entrepreneur.
The daughter of Microsoft founder Bill Gates and ex-wife Melinda French Gates revealed that she came up with the idea for a Bluetooth tampon while studying at Stanford University, where she pitched her would-be company Renaissance for a business class.
Phoebe hoped her product would analyze period blood to give instant insights so women could learn if they're anemic, find out if their hormones are out of balance and receive other medical diagnoses without going to the doctor or getting a traditional blood test.
Though the pitch was ultimately rejected, the idea made the 22-year-old compare herself to Elizabeth Holmes—the former CEO of Theranos who was sentenced to over 11 years in prison after she was found guilty of fraud over the blood testing company.
"I'm all in this, because I'm doing all this repro health work, I'm also pre-med," Phoebe told friend Sophia Kianni on the March 31 episode of their podcast The Burnouts with Phoebe & Sophia. "This was our first big failure of many, many, many."
But Sophia saw the potential, saying it wasn't "that bad of an idea” since “who likes getting a blood test?”
"I thought you were a genius," Sophia recounted. "I thought Phoebe was the real legit Elizabeth Holmes."
Phoebe agreed they had big dreams: "We're like, 'It's going to be so crazy—we're going to be the new Elizabeth Holmes.' I was like, 'Let's start wearing black turtlenecks.'"
In hindsight, the influencer believes she and Sophia only compared themselves to Elizabeth because they didn’t know a lot of women founders in Silicon Valley, adding, "It's horrible that that's the only female entrepreneur that's literally known in the U.S."
And in the end, Phoebe's project didn't come to fruition.
"We had this whole grand idea, we go heads down for three weeks," she recalled. "We kind of go off the face of the Earth and everyone thought we were in love with each other, that we had basically docked ourselves from social life."
However, Phoebe—who debuted her romance with Paul McCartney's grandson Arthur Donald last year—realized that the pair's business plan flopped because they didn't have answers prepared for some "pretty key questions," such as what problem the product solved, how it would make money and why they would be the right people to make it.
"We get flat-out rejected from that class, which was honestly a really good reality check for us," she added. "Luckily, Stanford has the all-access entrepreneurship class that anyone could get into."
Read on to learn more about celebrities with kids who grew up in the spotlight.
The Full House alum appears with her look-alike eldest daughter (left) and daughter Beatrix during a trip to Jamaica in 2023.
Like mother like daughter. After becoming a household name on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, the former supermodel Yolanda Hadid's daughter Gigi Hadid broke into the fashion industry as a teen and has been rocking runways ever since.
Clint Eastwood's fifth child, son Scott Eastwood, has followed in his movie star footsteps by starring in films like Suicide Squad, Snowden, The Fate of the Furious and Pacific Rim.
The Bon Jovi singer and his third child is his mini-me. Pictured: The two appear on either sides of with the musician's wife, Dorothea Bongiovi, and their youngest son Romeo Bongiovi at the Jefferson Awards Foundation' 2017 DC National Ceremony at the Capital Hilton in Washington, DC. in 2017.
The look-alike duo is all smiles while attending a 2016 performance of Finding Neverland in the Big Apple.
Woah, the Marsden men's resemblance was uncanny at the 2017 SAG Awards.
The Alfie star’s daughter, whom she shares with ex Tom Sturridge, joined her mom for a rare public outing in London in April 2025.
Double take! The Real Housewives of Atlanta alum's daughter looks like her younger sister!
The soccer star has the cutest plus-one ever at the London premiere of Ronaldo.
Sailor is taking after her mom in the modeling industry.
And Kate's daughter is also following in her mom's famous footsteps.
Here posing for an Instagram snap before the Hot Pursuit premiere in Los Angeles, mom and her daughter have never looked more alike!
Like mother, like daughter. The two attend the Vanity Fair Oscars party in 2015.
With their matching jumpsuits, sleek hair and glasses, the two look more like twins than mother and daughter! "That moment when you realize you actually are becoming your mother #twinning #imnotmad," Willis joked on Instagram.
Pictured here in 2010, the pop icon's daughter is a fashionista just like her mama!
You'll get a kick out of how much the soccer star and his son look alike.
The spunky morning show host celebrated her daughter's 14th birthday with this adorable pic. Look at that resemblance!
Once upon a time in Hollywood...the Kill Bill actress twinned with her daughter on the red carpet.
Little Blue stole the show at the 2017 Grammys, and she's totally #twinning with her pops!
The Days of Our Lives star and her daughter get in the holiday spirit at Disney On Ice Presents Frozen at the Staples Center.
The mother-daughter pair looked like virtual twinsies (especially with those matching bobs) at the Chanel fall-winter Haute Couture show in Paris.
The Oscar-winner and her daughter both rock the red hair.
The nearly identical stunning stars even dress the same!
The Fuller House star and her daughter are practically twins at the Summer TCA Press Tour.
The Last of the Mohicans and Lincoln star's young adult son, whose mother is French actress Isabelle Adjani, made his big runway debut at 2015 Paris Fashion Week, walking into the Chanel show with Julianne Moore.
The two stunned on the red carpet at the Olivier Awards in London.
If you didn't know better, you might've guessed they were sisters!
This apple certainly doesn't fall far from the tree!
Mammia Mia! You can certainly see the family resemblance.
The EGOT winner posted this baby photo of himself, looking exactly like baby Luna on Oct. 6, 2017
eonline
