SoundHound’s millionaire boss founded 3 software startups before even graduating—he tells Gen Z who want to be their own boss ‘throw darts randomly’

SoundHound AI CEO Keyvan Mohajer built his Star Trek -inspired $6.5 billion company in his Stanford dorm room—but even before then, he already had three software startups under his belt. They weren’t all unicorns, but the willingness to pursue big ideas despite the risk of failure is a lesson Gen Z founders can embrace, he tells Fortune .

As someone who immigrated from Iran at age 17 knowing little English, becoming a tech entrepreneur one day may have seemed like a far-fetched dream. But Keyvan Mohajer always kept the mindset: You cannot hit big unless you try.

And try he did. By the time he walked across the stage at the University of Toronto to receive his bachelor’s degree in engineering, Mohajer already had three software companies to his name. Each later became profitable an