Where Ideas Come From: Inside SoundCloud's Headquarters

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This is part of an occasional photo feature that takes you inside the headquarters of today's top tech companies, from the big multinationals to the young startups of Silicon Valley. If you'd like to participate, or have a company to suggest, email me at njackson[at]theatlantic[dot]com.

An audio platform that allows anyone to upload, record and share music or other recordings across the Web, SoundCloud was established in Berlin, Germany, by artist Eric Wahlforss and sound designer Alex Ljung. The two founders, now chief technology officer and chief executive officer, respectively, continue to run the company out of its Berlin headquarters even as it continues to grow exponentially. While they have already established a presence in San Francisco, they plan on opening an office there later this year.

Established in August 2007, SoundCloud officially launched in October 2008 and now employees more than 50 people. Though it wasn't so long ago -- May 2010 -- that SoundCloud was celebrating the one million subscriber mark, it announced just last month that it had surpassed five million subscribers; it's adding 20,000 registered users every day. With that kind of growth, the online audio distribution platform has had little trouble securing millions of dollars in funding.

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Nicholas Jackson is an associate editor at The Atlantic, where he oversees the Health channel. A former media aggregator for Slate, he has also worked for Encyclopaedia Britannica, Texas Monthly and other publications.

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