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Frugal founders are often praised for trying to stay within budget. But when the founder happens to be the daughter of one of the world\u2019s richest people, the expectations seem to be different.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
In a viral post on Thursday that has sparked a debate over fair pay for creators and the power dynamics of negotiations, a lifestyle influencer posted on X what appeared to be a screenshot of a conversation<\/a> with Phoebe Gates, cofounder of AI shopping agent startup Phia, and the youngest daughter of billionaires Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen a billionaire\u2019s daughter says you\u2019re \u2018out of budget\u2019 Girl, pls,\u201d the post read.<\/p>\n The conversation allegedly showed Gates declining the content creator\u2019s user-generated-content rate of $4,000, saying it was \u201cjust super out of budget for us right now,\u201d given that Phia is an early-stage startup. Instead, Gates allegedly offered $400.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Fast Company<\/em> reached out to Phia for comment.<\/p>\n But while the original post was meant to call out Gates, users flocked to defend the young founder instead.<\/p>\n \u201cThe fact she\u2019s not wasting investor capital and actually hustling for UGC [user-generated content] herself is actually a good thing. Not sure what your post is trying to prove,\u201d Nikita Bier, head of product at X, said via X<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n