From $6M to $50M: A Resilient Solo GP’s Playbook for Differentiation & Scale with Samara Hernandez of Chingona Ventures

Samara Hernandez, Founding Partner of Chingona Ventures, shares her journey from Goldman Sachs to launching her own venture firm in the Midwest. In this conversation, she reveals the spark that drove her to start Chingona: a belief that great founders come from anywhere, combined with the conviction that overlooked geographies and demographics represent massive untapped opportunities. From her first $6M proof-of-concept fund to scaling a $52.9M institutional Fund II, Samara has built a differentiated investment strategy rooted in going earlier, leading rounds, and backing founders with unique lived experiences.She walks us through the realities of building as a solo GP, from finding her anchor investor almost by accident, to proving her thesis with small checks before scaling up her ownership strategy. Samara also shares tactical insights on working with institutional and non-traditional LPs, including corporates, family offices, and state treasurers, and how she positioned Chingona to align with both regional development goals and later-stage VCs seeking differentiated deal flow. For emerging managers, her candid perspective on “just getting into business” and proving even a slice of the thesis is an invaluable playbook for raising and scaling a fund.Finally, Samara dives into timely topics that all GPs face today: liquidity and secondaries, the tradeoffs between following the LP “playbook” and pursuing true DPI, and why proactive relationship-building with bankers and PE funds matters even at pre-seed. Her reflections on staying in the game long enough to let fund-makers emerge, combined with her commitment to mentoring the next generation of investors, offer both practical and inspiring lessons. This episode is essential listening for GPs navigating fund strategy, LP alignment, and long-term firm building.