Meet the Team behind Oasis -Anne Fauvre, COO at Oasis Labs
Since the launch of the Oasis Network in 2018, we’ve made some incredible progress, garnering partnerships with Binance, BMW and others, and creating powerful technologies that will change the way things are done in the crypto space. One of the people behind all the innovation happening on the Oasis Network is Chief Operating Officer of Oasis Labs, Anne Fauvre.
Before making her way to Oasis Labs, Anne served as a Product Manager for Apple, and had a successful career in politics, even working on campaigns for Hillary Clinton’s first presidential run.
In this article, you’ll discover how she got started in blockchain, what motivates her, how she thinks about the future of the crypto space and why Oasis is leading the charge. Our hope with these spotlight features is that you get a better understanding of Oasis and the great people behind it.
What’s your background, and what experience do you have in blockchain?
Like many, I was first drawn to blockchain by learning about Bitcoin and Ethereum and understanding the vision for what kind of world it could enable — one where there is a more level playing field between individuals and institutions and one where big ideas could be solved quickly and with the buy in of community, not just leaders. It felt like an entirely new way to effect structural change.
In terms of my background, I started my career in politics, working for a little while in the House (for Congressman Adam Schiff), on campaigns (including Hillary Clinton’s first presidential run), and in foreign policy, working for Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.
I learned a ton in these roles about identifying and trying to solve policy issues and building coalitions to do it. I then took a bit of a pivot and moved out west, working as a Product Manager for the iPhone at Apple and ultimately, finding my way to Oasis Labs. At Oasis, I’ve really gotten a new type of education — one in distributed systems, incentives, and community building. It’s been amazing and incredible to see what a community passionate about privacy and decentralization can do together!
What is your role at Oasis? What do you do on a daily basis?
I’m the COO at Oasis Labs, one of the earliest contributors to the Oasis Network. More specifically, I do whatever the team needs help with and my job is to help ensure our team is making consistent progress and empowering the community to further support and grow the Network. What that’s meant for the past year is driving our team’s efforts around preparing for Mainnet and now it means focusing on usage.
What are you currently working on?
Right now I am 100% focused on driving usage and adoption of the Oasis Network. And not just for some flash in the pan “hype” but to ensure the Network and the community is thriving in 5 years, 10 years, and even the next 100! The Network has seen some really interesting use cases — things that have really never been doable before. Nebula, CryptoSafe, and Music Fund are all super cool examples of that. But there’s so much more we can do to bring in more developers and users.
When did you start working in the blockchain space? What made you get into it?
My first serious foray into the blockchain space was when I joined the Oasis Labs team. At the time I was eager to enter a new emerging tech space where things were undefined and big user-facing problems needed to be figured out. After my time at Apple I also developed a strong passion and understanding for the importance of user privacy. So Oasis and the vision to combine the power of privacy and decentralized tech was extremely compelling to me.
Name another blockchain project you admire and why?
No question, Cosmos. It’s really incredible what the team has been able to accomplish and I really admire their welcoming open door approach they’ve always taken to the community. Many of their earliest validators are Oasis validators, and many of their earliest contributors, including Zaki Manian, have been very helpful advisors for us as well. It’s really exciting to see what they’ve done and I continue to be excited about the work we can do together.
What drew you to Oasis?
I feel like the path to Oasis was a natural one. Like I mentioned, I was so eager to learn about emerging technologies and why this space could do for some of the world’s biggest problems. Of course the team is incredible and I really feel like our approach to solving those problems is different from what you usually see out there in the crypto space. We’ve got a lot of smart, passionate people on the team, and no matter how hard we work, in a way it always feels fun because we enjoy it so much.
What excites you the most about Oasis?
The team at Oasis is “out of control” amazing! And I feel so lucky to work with all of them. I really feel this community and team of contributors can do anything. Secondly, I’m really proud of the real world usage we’ve been able to bring to the Network. Bringing in big Fortune 500s like BMW, Google and others is no easy feat but it’s a testament to the great work we’ve done that these blue chip companies really want to work with and partner with us. And not just that, because we’ve got lots more coming!
What do you think the future will look like for Oasis? Why do you think it will succeed?
I think the future of crypto and decentralization will need different platforms to solve different problems. A lot of teams are trying to compete head on with Ethereum — that is, to be a general purpose alternative, and I am just not convinced that’s the right path. We offer a real alternative to that, which is confidentiality and decentralization combined and I think there are a ton of use cases that can ONLY happen when you combine the two together. This includes things like tokenization of sensitive information (data, royalties, etc), so much of DeFi (lending, private DEXs, and more). We are literally just in the infancy of this movement and I’m really excited to see where it’s headed.
How do you feel being a woman in the blockchain space? Do you feel women are underrepresented in this field?
This is an interesting topic for me. One of the reasons I first got into crypto and blockchain is I wanted to join an industry that was so early that no one could be an expert. I’d come from hardware tech where expertise is entrenched, and the people at the top have been doing it for 30 years! What that also meant is that gender imbalances were also entrenched. Not all, but most of the leadership at Apple are male and that’s not a coincidence.
With blockchain I felt like I would be learning at a fast rate and learning with everyone else. To me, that also meant a more open and fair playing field where the gender imbalance would also not be as strong.
In reality however, that’s a mixed bag. Crypto is still very skewed towards men as are engineering teams, but what I’ve also found is that with emergent industries you’ve got to have an emergent mindset to succeed. So the people who work in this space also care a lot less about such conformities.
Which person in the blockchain space do you most admire?
I’ve always been really impressed by the team at Cosmos and Zaki Manian in particular. It’s incredible what that team has done to build not just a platform but a movement around Cosmos. And on top of it all, Zaki is a true champion of other teams and he’s been a great advisor to us and to so many other projects. It’s really invaluable to have him on our side.
What are your hobbies and interests?
I have a 15 month daughter so right now that takes up most of my non-work time :) But in addition, I also love politics and follow US politics and US history very closely. I’ve also continued to stay pretty involved in that line of work in my spare time. I also love bouldering, playing tennis and honestly just hanging out with friends. Can’t wait to do more of that once we’re all vaccinated!
What do you consider to be your biggest achievement to date? What are you most proud of?
Ha nothing quite yet… We have a lot to accomplish so ask me in a year :).
What is your motto?
Action by default. I love to plan but ultimately I want to be building and shipping faster than we’re comfortable with. That type of cadence keeps the momentum going and also helps you identify and see trends and adjust more quickly.
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