The Burnouts with Phoebe & Sophia
The Burnouts with Phoebe & Sophia
Podcast Description
As former Stanford roommates and now business partners, Phoebe Gates and Sophia Kianni share their experience as startup founders and the complexities of being young professionals—from financial literacy, social impact, and navigating networking (ever been hit on through LinkedIn?). With exclusive access to top experts, they offer an inside look at their chaotic lives alongside career insights from their network of thought leaders. Watch The Burnouts pursue their dreams while trying to keep their lives from going up in flames. Will they burn out? We’ll find out.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The podcast focuses on themes of entrepreneurship, financial literacy, social impact, and personal development, with episodes covering topics like the complexities of networking, the realities of startup life, and psychological aspects of burnout, including discussions on Stanford cheating rings and innovative yet humorous concepts like Bluetooth tampons.

As former Stanford roommates and now business partners, Phoebe Gates and Sophia Kianni share their experience as startup founders and the complexities of being young professionals—from financial literacy, social impact, and navigating networking (ever been hit on through LinkedIn?). With exclusive access to top experts, they offer an inside look at their chaotic lives alongside career insights from their network of thought leaders. Watch The Burnouts pursue their dreams while trying to keep their lives from going up in flames. Will they burn out? We’ll find out.
Barbara Corcoran is the founder of the Corcoran Group, one of New York’s most iconic real estate brands, and a star investor on ABC’s Shark Tank for 17 seasons. From being told she was stupid in school and her ex saying she’d never succeed without him to building a 1,000-person company and selling it for $66 million, she’s become one of the most trusted voices in business and a fairy godmother to hundreds of entrepreneurs.
Chapters
00:00 – Her Biggest Failure Started in Childhood
00:41 – 22 Jobs By 23 and Becoming Her Own Boss
01:26 – The Boyfriend Who Loaned Her $1,000
02:18 – The Insult That Built Her Empire
04:37 – Marrying “Lucky Bill” and His Craziest Stunt
07:42 – Scaling to 1,000 People and the $66M Exit
09:18 – How She’d Rebuild With Only $1,000 Today
10:06 – Her “Queen of New York” Vision
11:22 – The 3 Traits Every Great Entrepreneur Has
14:17 – Why She Bets on People With Unhealthy Childhoods
16:52 – The Self-Tape in Her Head Until 35
19:55 – Her Best and Worst Bosses Ever
21:18 – How She Fires People (Always on Fridays at 10)
22:58 – Getting Her Shark Tank Seat Back After Being Fired
25:41 – What Makes Her Pass on a Shark Tank Deal
27:49 – Her Advice to Her 20-Year-Old Self
🔗 FOLLOW US
https://www.instagram.com/phoebegates
https://www.instagram.com/sophiakianni
https://www.instagram.com/barbaracorcoran
🔥 FOLLOW THE BURNOUTS
https://www.instagram.com/theburnouts
https://www.tiktok.com/@theburnouts
https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-burnouts
📲 Support What We’re Building
Phoebe and Sophia aren’t just your hosts—they’re the founders of Phia, a fashion-tech app helping shoppers find the best prices across retail and resale. Download the app and help us grow → https://www.phia.com
About The Burnouts
The Burnouts brings you raw, unfiltered conversations with today’s top founders, creators, athletes, and culture-shaping entrepreneurs. Hosted by Stanford roommates turned startup co-founders Phoebe Gates and Sophia Kianni, the show goes beyond the headlines to reveal the real stories behind ambitious careers. Past guests include Paris Hilton, Chelsea Handler, Kris Jenner, Karlie Kloss, and more.
Subscribe for the insider playbook to build your dream career.

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