#263: Samara Mejia Hernandez, Founding Partner of Chingona Ventures, an Early-Stage Venture Fund Investing in the Next Generation of Badass Founders

Samara Mejia Hernandez is the Founding Partner at Chingona Ventures, an early-stage venture fund investing in the next generation of badass founders. Samara has over 15 years experience in investing, selling and advising on both public and private markets. She has a background in sales, operations and technology at Goldman Sachs. She was an early-stage investor with MATH Venture Partners and advisor to Angeles, Camino Financial and Chicago Blend. She studied engineering at the University of Michigan, and has her MBA from Northwestern University. Samara is a proud Mexican immigrant and mama to a toddler.

About Our Partner

This episode is brought to you Varia Search. Varia Search is a boutique legal recruiting firm that uses a bespoke approach to fill legal department roles from general counsel to paralegal. They have a particular focus on startups and growing tech companies.

They are a boutique firm which allows them to provide individualized, in-depth attention to both their clients and to their searches.

They focus solely on placing in-house candidates which allows them to give their clients a bespoke experience in filling their legal needs.

Their matchmaking approach ensures that clients are paired with candidates who not only have great credentials but who are also a good cultural fit for a growing company.

Learn more at variasearch.com.

Some of the Topics Covered by Samara Mejia Hernandez in this Episode

• What Chingona Ventures is and how their name aligns with their mission and portfolio

• How Samara got involved in VC and why she started her own venture fund

• How Samara found an LP for the fund

• How Samara deals with imposter syndrome

• Deciding between starting an angel group and a venture fund

• How Samara advises different types of investors

• Being resourceful as a fund manager

• Building deal flow

• The role a fund's lifecycle plays in VC

• How Samara approaches investing geographically

• Evaluating founder-market fit

• The importance of value alignment

• Some of the companies Chingona Ventures has invested in that Samara is passionate and excited about

• How Samara prioritizes self-care and both her physical and mental health

• The stigma of therapy, particularly in the Latinx community

• How Samara views her way of making a difference

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