# Career: Surya Pugazhenthi

Source page: https://suryapugaz.com/career

### Season 1: Diablo Valley (2022 – 2024)

Rookie season at Diablo Valley College: first shipped software, first leadership laps, and an A.S. in Computer Science.

- [Founding Product Development Club](https://suryapugaz.com/career/product-dev-club): Surya Pugazhenthi served as Founder & President at Diablo Valley College (Aug – Dec 2023). Result: First product-focused club on campus; 30+ active members in one semester.
- [ML Project Manager at Project Bracket](https://suryapugaz.com/career/project-bracket): Surya Pugazhenthi served as ML Project Manager at Project Bracket, DVC (Sep 2022 – Dec 2023). Result: Led a team shipping an ML-driven stock market prediction model.
- [Code for Your Future](https://suryapugaz.com/career/code-for-your-future): Surya Pugazhenthi served as VP of Growth & Strategy at Code for Your Future, DVC (Aug – Dec 2023). Result: Shaped long-term vision and prepared members for CS exams, internships, and interviews.
- [NSF Puma STEM Scholars](https://suryapugaz.com/career/puma-stem-scholars): Surya Pugazhenthi served as Student Representative at DVC Puma STEM Scholars (NSF-funded), Sep 2022 – May 2023. Result: Represented students in an NSF program improving STEM transfer outcomes.

### Season 2: UC Santa Cruz (2024 – 2026)

Promotion to the B.S. grid at UCSC: first hackathon win, a full product cycle with analytics, the agentic-hackathon circuit, and first laps as a venture scout.

- [Calendarize at SlugAI](https://suryapugaz.com/career/slugai-calendarize): Surya Pugazhenthi served as Product Developer at SlugAI — UCSC's AI innovation club (Jan – Jun 2025). Result: Launched an AI calendar tool on Product Hunt with a full analytics pipeline behind it.
- [BenefitFinder wins at CruzHacks](https://suryapugaz.com/career/benefitfinder-cruzhacks): Surya Pugazhenthi competed at CruzHacks 2025 (Apr 2025) as a full-stack builder, shipping BenefitFinder. Result: Best Beginner Hack; featured by Santa Cruz Works as 1 of 5 winning projects with startup potential.
- [slugspace](https://suryapugaz.com/career/slugspace): Surya Pugazhenthi built slugspace with a Google Developer Groups on Campus team at UCSC, as mobile developer (Oct 2024 – Apr 2025). Result: A React Native roommate-matching app for UCSC students.
- [TripWeaver at Locus Agentic Payments Hackathon](https://suryapugaz.com/career/tripweaver-locus): Surya Pugazhenthi competed at the Locus Agentic Payments Hackathon, run by Locus (Y Combinator FW25), in Nov 2025 as an agent systems builder, shipping TripWeaver. Result: 2nd place overall + Stripe Prize Track.
- [Venture Starters](https://suryapugaz.com/career/venture-starters): Surya Pugazhenthi served as Venture Analyst Intern at Venture Starters (2026). Result: Hands-on reps in live startup pitching and investor Q&A.
- [LvlUp Ventures](https://suryapugaz.com/career/lvlup-ventures): Surya Pugazhenthi served as Venture Scout at LvlUp Ventures (Shopline-backed seed fund), Feb – May 2026. Result: 3 companies surfaced for potential investment from 20+ founder outreaches.
- [Credence at EF Marketing Agents Hackathon](https://suryapugaz.com/career/credence-ef-hackathon): Surya Pugazhenthi competed at Entrepreneur First's Marketing Agents Hackathon (Apr 2026) as a full-stack builder, shipping Credence. Result: 3rd place, Best Use of Apify API.

### Season 3: Bay Area (2026 – Present)

The post-grad season: scouted pre-seed and seed founders full-time at 16VC (Jun – Oct 2026) while something new took shape under the car cover.

- [16VC](https://suryapugaz.com/career/16vc): Surya Pugazhenthi served as Venture Associate at 16VC (Jun – Oct 2026). Result: Sourced pre-seed and seed opportunities across the SF Bay Area ecosystem.
- [AlphaForge](https://suryapugaz.com/career/alphaforge-gtme): Surya Pugazhenthi served as GTM systems builder at AlphaForge (Clay's GTM engineering program), Aug – Sep 2026. Result: One continuous GTM engineering build against Stripe's startup partnerships audience: 2,932 companies scanned, 909 scored, 12 signed sends.