Bill Gates' Daughter Phoebe Says Mom Melinda Gave Tough-Love Advice After Investors Questioned Motherhood Plans: 'Get Up Or Get Out The Game'

Phoebe Gates, co-founder of fashion pricing startup Phia and daughter of Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates, shared the practical advice her mother gave her after she faced relentless queries from potential investors about future motherhood.

What Happened: While raising funds for Phia, Gates and cofounder Sophia Kianni were frequently asked what would happen if they decided to have children.

Gates, 22, said on the Call Her Daddy podcast that this line of questioning left her in tears, prompting a call to her mother, who said: "Get up or get out the game, sis."

See Also: Bill and Melinda Gates Agreed ‘It’s Not Fair We Have So Much Wealth’ — And Say Their Money Opens Doors Most People Will Never Get Through

Why It Matters: Both founders note that such questions often reflect recurring biases they've encountered in the venture capital space. "Always children," Gates said when asked about the most common bias they faced.

Kianni recalled flipping the question on a male investor by asking, "What's going to happen to your venture firm when you have kids?"

She went on to add: "He's like, ‘Why would that affect anything?' And I was like, ‘You answered your own question.'”

Gates and Kianni's experiences parallel a recent finding from an Oxfam study documenting rising CEO salaries, which showed that out of 45,501 corporations in 168 countries, each with more $10 million in revenue, less than 7% are led by women.

Read Next:

• Bill Gates Bought His Daughter A $16 Million Horse Farm As A Graduation Gift — But Ex-Wife Melinda Says The Kids Were Raised Very ‘Middle Class’

Image Via Shutterstock