What happens when difference becomes a competitive advantage?

In this episode of Breaking Precedent, Leah Solivan sits down with Samara Hernandez, founder of Chingona Ventures, to explore how identity, constraint, and culture can shape leadership in venture capital. From growing up in Mexico to building a venture fund in the United States, Samara reflects on how limited resources, discipline, and an early love of math forged resilience and clarity—and how being underestimated became a source of strength.

Tracing her path from engineering at the University of Michigan to finance at Goldman Sachs, and ultimately to launching her own fund, Samara shares how she learned to turn difference into a competitive edge. Now a venture capitalist and engineer backing bold founders, she brings a philosophy of doing more with less—working to close access gaps, expand opportunity, and redefine leadership in an industry built on pattern-matching.

Samara Hernandez is a venture capitalist and engineer focused on backing bold founders building the future. Born in Mexico and raised in Chicago, her career spans engineering, finance, and early-stage investing, shaped by a philosophy of doing more with less. Through Chingona Ventures, she works to close capital gaps and expand opportunity for underrepresented founders across the innovation economy.

Learn more at chingonaventures.com, and follow Samara on Instagram @chingonaventures and LinkedIn.

Resources

National Venture Capital Association (NVCA)

Venture Forward

SAFE (Simple Agreement for Future Equity)

Show Notes
00:00 Welcome to Breaking Precedent!
02:03 Icebreaker: Turning Differences into Superpowers

03:43 Samara's Childhood and Education

06:59 From Mexico to Chicago: A Family's Journey

07:21 The Significance of Qana Ventures

08:32 Celebrating Hispanic Heritage

09:59 The Power of Community and Upbringing

11:48 Discovering a Passion for Math

13:30 Navigating Education as an Immigrant

17:39 Choosing Engineering and University Life

24:13 From Engineering to Wall Street

26:08 Learning and Growing at Goldman Sachs

30:39 The Intensity of Sales and Moving On

31:12 Mentorship and Business School Journey

32:18 Discovering Venture Capital by Accident

34:13 First Steps in Venture Capital

35:37 Building a Venture Firm from Scratch

36:48 Challenges and Opportunities in Venture Capital

40:31 Scaling Chingona Ventures

44:44 The Power of Representation and Impact

51:07 Investing in the New Majority

57:01 Redefining Success in Venture Capital

01:03:16 Final Thoughts and Advice for Founders

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Leah Solivan is the host of Breaking Precedent, a podcast that explores the stories of innovators who are pushing societal boundaries and setting new precedents in their fields. Leah is General Partner at Fuel Capital, where she invests in early-stage companies across consumer technology, hardware, education, marketplaces, and retail. Leah has 15 years of experience building and creating technology products that have reached millions of people around the globe. She started her career at IBM as an engineer in the software group, working on Lotus Notes and Domino. In 2008, Leah founded TaskRabbit, the leading on-demand service marketplace in the world.

Connect with Leah:

Website: breakingprecedent.com/
Instagram: @labunleashed
X: @labunleashed