Fun Friday: Meet Alexander Grosse
This Friday help me welcome Alexander Grosse to the ever growing team in Berlin! Listen to and read his interview below!
Fun Friday: Meet Alexander Grosse by SoundCloud Community Team
Hi Alexander! Thank you for doing this interview with me and taking time out of your busy day. How are ya doing?
Great but already incredibly busy. I already feel like I’ve been here for months! So much great stuff to work on.
You have lived in Germany for a long time, how do you like Berlin and where are you originally from?
I grew up near Bremen, studied in Oldenburg and spent some time in the US and in Hamburg. Then in 1997 in visited Berlin for one excessive weekend and shortly after I moved to Berlin. It is by far the best city I’ve ever lived in. Although I sometimes think about spending some time in other countries I just like Berlin too much.
Can you tell us what your your role at SoundCloud is? Also, how do you like working in the Berlin HQ ?
My role is VP Engineering, which basically means that I am responsible for all engineers. In detail this means I am responsible for hiring and scaling the teams, organization of the teams, contracts and so on. My biggest wish is that I will find the time and the mindset for coding again!
How did you get introduced to SoundCloud and what do you love most about it?
I worked at Nokia for one of the board members of SoundCloud and he introduced me to the founders Eric and Alex. I also was one of the beta users of SoundCloud, so I know it from the very early stage. Due to my DJ background I always wanted to to combine Music and IT, so SoundCloud is the perfect fit!
What are your favorite Sounds on the cloud?
Simon Stokes is a DJ/Producer I recently discovered on SoundCloud, he is really great. And I am a big fan of Wareika (the singer is a good friend of mine).
Can you give us a few reasons why it is great working at SoundCloud?
There are so many reasons. As I mentioned before working in IT but close to music is something I always wanted. Then the team at SoundCloud is amazing, I’ve never worked in a company where people are so open to new things and so enthusiastic about their product. Another reason is that working in a company which already has a lot of users and the potential to add even more is something that I like a lot.
Finally, do you have any fun facts about yourself that you would like to share?
I once had to decide between opening a techno club or doing a MBA. In the last minute the club thing fell through and I did my MBA. It might have been the rational decision but … probably then the dark circles around my eyes would come from sleepless nights because of my kids (I have three of them)!
Techno club or an MBA? Only in Berlin! Thank you for the great interview! Remember to follow Alex on Twitter!