36: Former Fund Manager at a $27B Shop Turned Boutique Founder Greg Dean of Langdon Partners on Entrepreneurship | Why AUM Isn’t the Only Measure of Success | How Different Thinking Leads to Differentiated Results

Apr 10, 2024

Former Fund Manager at a $27B Shop Turned Boutique Founder Greg Dean of Langdon Partners discusses entrepreneurship and small-cap investing. Topics include the importance of autonomy, maximizing return on time, challenges in fund industry, and advice for fund managers considering entrepreneurship.

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Introduction

00:00 • 3min

From Big Firm to Boutique: Building Confidence in Entrepreneurship

02:59 • 18min

Emphasizing Verification and Transparency in the Investment Process

21:09 • 2min

Navigating Small-Cap Investing and Partner Selection

22:52 • 8min

Navigating Challenges and Growth in Entrepreneurship

31:02 • 20min

From Failing Fast to Grooving to Music

50:50 • 4min

Exploring Career Paths and Aspirations

54:33 • 3min

Success as a founder is about more than impressive AUM. It’s about maintaining autonomy and connection. It’s about taking pride in what you do, the team you’ve built, and most importantly having fun along the way.
Take it from today’s guest, Greg Dean, founder of global small-cap specialist firm Langdon Partners.
In this episode, he and Stacy discuss:

Greg's backstory:
o From Fidelity Investments to co-founding a $27B investment firm
o How his passion for connecting people and numbers drove him into small-cap investing
o His big leap from the shallow end of co-foundership to founding his own firm

• Why AUM isn't the only measure of success in small-cap investing
• Strategies for maximizing return on time in small-cap investing
• The challenges of climbing the ranks in the fund world
• Key advice for fund managers considering leaping into entrepreneurship

About Greg Dean:

Greg founded Langdon Equity Partners, a firm that believes in making investment excellence through smaller company investing available to all clients. He is the Chief Executive and lead investor for their smaller companies strategies.

Previously, Greg was a Partner and Portfolio Manager at Cambridge Global Asset Management, where he was the joint recipient of the prestigious Morningstar Breakout Fund Manager of the Year in 2015. His funds also won numerous industry awards.

Greg has a degree in Mathematics from the University of Waterloo and a Bachelor's of Business Administration from Wilfrid Laurier University. He is also a CFA charterholder.

He considers himself more of a thermostat than a thermometer, is a father of 2, can find the best coffee in any city, and a life-long Raptors fan.

Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

Song: 22 Two's – JAY-Z

Books: Same as Ever by Morgan Housel, Start-Up Nation by Dan Senor

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