Cruz Welborn
Software Engineer
Work
I'm a software engineer in the Los Angeles area. For over a decade I've been on high velocity dev teams shipping digital experiences, from consumer web to fintech. While fullstack, my passion has always lied on the frontend. I specialize in React, TypeScript, and modern web architecture - with a growing focus on shipping AI-native tools and integrations using LLMs, MCP, and applied AI workflows.
I'm currently a Senior Software Engineer on the Growth team atSplash Financial, where we own the top of the loan funnel. The mission at Splash is to make people more powerful than their debt, and i'm lucky to work with smart people (likeRyan) who live the mission.
Education
I graduated from theUniversity of California, San Diegoin 2014 with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, one class shy of a Business minor. During my senior year at UCSD, I tookcomputer science courseworkand loved it. I also spent some time tinkering witha Raspberry Pi and some inexpensive ASICs to mine 1/100th of a Bitcoinand getting the hang of working in the terminal.
My year after graduation, I spent a summer working as a Bellhop before working as a jack of all trades (ironically, my job title was operations specialist) at a four personcold chain technology startup. I then attendedCodesmithto learn full-stack javascript start my first software engineering role in April of 2016. My journey to becoming a software engineer was non-linear, like many others, and at no point did any part of it seemed planned - i'm nonethless thankful for all the experiences and to be in a field where continual learning isn't optional.
Interests
I enjoy woodworking. Starting out with a miter saw a few years ago, it's been a great hobby to unplug from screens, build practical things, and feel empowered around the house. Even if it is abit cliche.
I enjoy gardening. Like many people, I picked it up during the pandemic while cooped up in a small apartment. My focus recently has been my citrus, avocado, and banana trees. My experiments with grafting citrus scions have been unsuccessful, but nevertheless I persist.