Michael Gonzalez
FounderFounder at Palus Finance
Santa Monica, California, United States
FoundedPalus Finance · YC
Find your path to Michael
258 people in our graph share verified history with Michael — schools, employers, funds. One of them is your warm intro.
Javier SolterounlockedMichael: together at Carnegie Mellon University (2018)
×5Michael: together at Carnegie Mellon University
×2Michael: together at Caltech
×3Michael: together at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
About
Michael Gonzalez is CTO at Palus Finance. He previously developed monitoring software for quantum computer fleet optimization at defense contracting firms and holds a degree from Caltech.
Founder at Palus FinanceYC W26
Intro paths
YC
Michael went through Y Combinator (Winter 2026) — any YC alum in your network can reach them through the YC community.
GP
Their group partner at YC was Brad Flora, Backing expeditions into the future — the partner who ran Palus Finance's batch and knows the company first-hand. YC profile ↗
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In turn, Michael can intro founders to Palus Finance's investors below.
Palus Finance's investors · 1
Co-founders at Palus Finance
SL
Sam LushtakFounder and CEO
Experience
- Palus FinanceChief Technology Officercurrent2025 — present
- HRL Laboratories, LLCEngineer II2024 — 2025
- HRL Laboratories, LLCEngineer I2023 — 2024
- CaltechFrank W. Wood Research Fellow2022Pasadena, CA
- AmazonSoftware Development Engineer Intern2021Tempe, AZ
- NASA Jet Propulsion LaboratorySoftware Development Intern2020 — 2021Pasadena, CA
Skills & more
LeadershipProblem SolvingCommunication1TeamworkProgrammingComputer-Aided Design (CAD)MultilingualWeb DesignCC++PythonJava
+5 more
JavaScriptMATLABAutoCADInventorSOLIDWORKSFrom Michael's professional profile.
Frequently asked questions
- Who is Michael Gonzalez?
- Michael Gonzalez is CTO at Palus Finance. He previously developed monitoring software for quantum computer fleet optimization at defense contracting firms and holds a degree from Caltech.
- Where does Michael Gonzalez work?
- Michael Gonzalez is Founder of Palus Finance.
- What companies did Michael Gonzalez found?
- Michael Gonzalez founded Palus Finance.
- Where did Michael Gonzalez go to school?
- Michael Gonzalez studied at Caltech (Bachelor of Science - BS, Computer Science); Carnegie Mellon University; Terra Environmental Research Institute.
Founder mafias
Y Combinator mafia10,230
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
Sam AltmanPresidentFounded Tools for Humanity +3Garry TanPresident & CEOFounded Y Combinator +1Jessica LivingstonCo-founderFounded Y CombinatorAlexis OhanianPartnerFounded RedditFred EhrsamYC Summer 2012Founded Nudge +1Matt HuangYC Winter 2011Founded Paradigm +1
+ 10,223 more
Carnegie Mellon University mafia481
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
Kai-Fu LeeResearch Computer Scientist / Assistant ProfessorFounded 01Lucy GuoComputer Science & Human-Computer InteractionsFounded Passes +1Guillaume LampleMaster's degreeFounded Mistral AIJoshua XuMaster's degreeFounded HeyGenJonathan RothbergBachelor of Science (BS)Founded Raindance Technologies +4Andrew NgBachelor of Science - BSFounded Factored +3
+ 474 more
Caltech mafia153
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
Dario AmodeiProgress towards BSFounded AnthropicFei-Fei LiDoctor of Philosophy - PhDFounded World LabsBill GrossBachelor of Science (B.S.)Founded X1 +5Chris VoigtPhDFounded Asimov +2Gil ElbazBSFounded TenOneTen Ventures +1Aditya RajagopalBachelor of Science (BS)Founded Esperto Medical +1
+ 146 more
Same school
Also attended Caltech275
Shaun MaguirePartner at Sequoia CapitalDario AmodeiCo-founder & CEO of AnthropicFei-Fei LiCo-founder & CEO of World Labs; Sequoia Professor of Computer Science at StanfordScott BillerInvestor at GV (Google Ventures)Seth LieblichInvestment Team at 8VCSusannah BarbeeVice President, Translational Immunology at Deerfield Management Company
+ 269 more
Also attended Carnegie Mellon University732
Kai-Fu LeeChairman of Sinovation Ventures and CEO of 01.AILucy GuoCo-founder of Scale AI; founder & CEO of PassesGuillaume LampleCo-founder & Chief Scientist of Mistral AIJoshua XuCo-founder & CEO of HeyGenJavier SolteroSenior Venture Partner at Felicis VenturesAvi BharadwajInvestment Director at Intel Capital
+ 726 more
Shared employers
Also worked at Palus Finance1
Also worked at HRL Laboratories, LLC12
Jordan NooneGeneral Partner at Embedded VenturesDaniel DocterManaging Director at Dell Technologies CapitalHoward HartenbaumGeneral Partner at August CapitalChris FurmanskiManaging Director at Pacific Health VenturesJanet HurFounder at NuvolaAlexander GabourieFounder at DeepSim, Inc.
+ 6 more
Also worked at Caltech145
Alex BlaniaCo-founder & CEO of Tools for HumanitySusannah BarbeeVice President, Translational Immunology at Deerfield Management CompanyHaomiao HuangFounding Partner at Matter Venture PartnersConnor CooleyVenture Partner at Electric Feel Ventures LlcHelen McBrideOperating Partner at BOLD LongevityAlex HartzGeneral Partner at Shine Capital
+ 139 more
Also worked at Amazon1,104
Apoorva MehtaFounder of Instacart; founder of Cloud Health SystemsBinny BansalCo-founder of Flipkart; co-founder of PhonePe and OppDoorBrad PorterFounder & CEO of Collaborative RoboticsJane MooneyCo-founder & VP, Strategy and Finance at Collaborative RoboticsNick FrosstCo-founder of CohereViswa SankaranarayananVenture Partner at Monta Vista Capital
+ 1,098 more