Sophia Kianni, co-founder of the shopping app Phia alongside Phoebe Gates, described a past strategy of fabricating a male assistant to secure higher-paying public speaking engagements, a tactic resurfaced as the company faces fraud allegations. Kianni, 24, shared the anecdote on the "Call Her Daddy" podcast in April 2025, detailing how she created a fake male assistant named "Kobe" to negotiate on her behalf during her college years.
"I'm like, everyone's going to think I'm a fraud. This is so much money," Kianni told host Alex Cooper, recalling her initial hesitation. The idea originated from a Stanford friend who suggested a fake male persona would be more effective in negotiations. Kianni admitted the plan was "psychotic" but proceeded, reporting that it quickly led to more lucrative speaking opportunities and covered travel expenses.
To maintain the ruse, Kianni involved a friend named Kobe who would take calls from businesses. She employed distinct grammar and capitalization in her communications to differentiate herself from the fabricated assistant. "I had a whole elaborate scheme going on," Kianni stated.
Cooper remarked on the perceived intelligence of the strategy, particularly the choice to make the assistant male, suggesting societal biases favor men in professional negotiations. Kianni described this as "engineering" her success, asserting, "You have to create your own luck."
Kianni also revealed on the podcast how she secured scholarships for her Stanford tuition by monitoring the hashtag journorequest, where journalists seek sources. She leveraged media attention for her work on climate change and her role as an advisor to the UN, as well as her nonprofit Climate Cardinals, to enhance her scholarship applications. One scholarship committee reportedly reopened its application period specifically for her.
The company Phia, which Gates, 23, and Kianni launched in April 2025, is now under scrutiny following a Bloomberg investigation. The report alleges that Phia engaged in "fake clicks" on retail websites, falsely claiming its app drove sales and thus earned unwarranted commissions. The AI-powered browser extension reportedly injected its own referral code during checkout processes without user interaction, a practice known as "cookie stuffing" or attribution fraud.
Phia, designed to help shoppers compare prices across numerous retail and resale sites, operates on an affiliate revenue model. When a purchase is made via a Phia affiliate link, the company earns a commission. The investigation by Bloomberg, Capital One Shopping, and researcher Ben Edelman found that Phia's app could override other referrers' codes with its own.
Impact.com, a significant affiliate network, suspended Phia's account due to its extension's actions being "inconsistent with our platform policies." A spokesperson for Phia acknowledged the issue in a statement to Bloomberg, confirming that a "recent release" of their codebase had caused "misattributions" for a subset of users and that the problem, introduced in December, had been resolved. The company stated that Phia is regularly audited and has "always maintained compliance."
Researchers retesting Phia's extension in July reportedly found that it had ceased automatically claiming referral clicks. Launched by Gates, daughter of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, and Kianni, her former Stanford roommate, Phia quickly gained traction, reaching 20,000 downloads in its first week and over 500,000 by September 2025. The company also secured $8 million in funding, followed by an additional $35 million, valuing it at $185 million within a year of its launch. Phia's notable investors include Kris Jenner and Hailey Bieber.