# Leader introduction: 'Avsa'

By [Offscript](https://paragraph.com/@offscript) · 2022-02-21

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Leader introductions is a story segment. In each segment I (organizer Hester) tell you more about one of our [amazing leaders](https://www.web3creatives.com/#speakers) and why I’m so grateful they decided to join us in Comporta.

![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/9021cd04469b75151063cc806821b1ba23b02277e5b5276d91de08f1985ffe68.png)

Alex Van de Sande (a.k.a. Avsa) was the first designer to work for the Ethereum Foundation and give a UI to the vision that we now often refer to as Web3. Needless to say it is an absolute pleasure to have Alex as a leader at Offscript. Where he’ll give a closing talk, taking us back to the early vision of Web3.

While working on [Mist](https://github.com/ethereum/mist) for Ethereum Foundation, Alex became co-founder of [ENS](https://ens.domains/); Those .eth names now used on Twitter. A project he returned to more recently both as a protocol governance [delegate](https://discuss.ens.domains/t/ens-dao-delegate-applications/815/636) and [contributor](https://twitter.com/avsa/status/1466456672818417664?s=20&t=S1ni-xPNPa1jbrvsoRMPKA). In between his work for ENS, Alex co-founded another forward thinking project, [Unilogin](https://medium.com/universal-ethereum/universal-login-is-now-unilogin-eb4683efadfc). An in-browser on the fly (multisig) account creator to use dapps without the need of downloading and installing a wallet and joined Balancer labs as a User researcher.

Around the time Alex was working on Unilogin, we met at a [MetaCartel DemoDay](https://www.metacartel.org/demoday-2019) in Berlin. Where next to be so kind as to let me borrow his laptop to present, he also opened my eyes on the impact true decentralization can and should have on a user interface. Where my usability background always taught me to limit choice and create more hierarchy, Alex argued how it might be better to have _more_ options than as an ecosystem ending up with a single popular wallet provider. Better ‘UX’ yes, but also less freedom of choice and ultimately a vulnerable ecosystem.

As a leader in the Web3 space, Alex:

*   Exemplifies decentralizing control. In his role as a delegate he called on people multiple times to vote for others lower on the list.
    

[https://twitter.com/avsa/status/1458416007593218060?s=20&t=S1ni-xPNPa1jbrvsoRMPKA](https://twitter.com/avsa/status/1458416007593218060?s=20&t=S1ni-xPNPa1jbrvsoRMPKA)

*   Is an advocate against tribalism
    

[https://twitter.com/avsa/status/1467874875658416141?s=20&t=S1ni-xPNPa1jbrvsoRMPKA](https://twitter.com/avsa/status/1467874875658416141?s=20&t=S1ni-xPNPa1jbrvsoRMPKA)

*   Consistently evaluates and focuses his effort on projects that solve critical problems, be it identity, meta transactions or onboarding

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*Originally published on [Offscript](https://paragraph.com/@offscript/leader-introduction-avsa)*