Joel joined Langdon Equity Partners in 2022 as an investor, covering the UK, Canada, and Ireland. Langdon Equity Partners is an independent investment firm that is employee owned and solely focused on smaller companies. Prior to joining Langdon, Joel was an Associate Portfolio Manager at Guardian Capital where he spent time on the Canadian equity team managing concentrated strategies. Joel was born in the UK and recently spent two years working in London. He began his career with RBC Capital Markets where he spent three years covering the Consumer Discretionary and Health Care sectors. Joel graduated with an Honours Bachelor of Science (Biochemistry) from Queen’s University and earned a Master of Biotechnology degree from the University of Toronto. He is a CFA® charterholder and holds the Fundamentals of Sustainability Accounting (FSA) credential awarded by SASB.
How did your experience in the MBiotech program contribute to your career success?
There are two main aspects of the MBiotech program that really stand out as being excessively impactful: The first being the team-based aspect of the program. With so many strong students, the ability to lead teams through group projects and real-life business cases was invaluable when it came to building a foundation upon which I have built my career.
The second is the creativity that the lab-based courses encourage; the scientific method is an important framework that I use daily to test investment theses and invalidate or validate them - that’s a tool I started to use in high school and developed throughout undergraduate and graduate school. Combining that with the program’s focus on commercialization of science in these courses and being able to run a business and commercialize our project (including being the first team to launch an IPO process!) was another valuable experience.
What are some of the key skills and knowledge you acquired during the MBiotech program that are still valuable to you today?
Teamwork and collaborative leadership remain just as valuable today.
What advice would you give to current MBiotech students or recent graduates who are entering the job market?
Leverage the alumni network, and ensure you start connecting with alumni early! Get to know career paths and companies. The cohort you are a part of is a group of incredibly capable and talented young professionals, many of whom you will interact with throughout your career. Several alumni from my class ended up in London during my time there (working at the global headquarters of companies like AstraZeneca, Gilead, GSK, and Takeda) and we regularly spent time together. Be patient with yourself!
Are there any memorable or transformative experiences from your time in the MBiotech program that you would like to share?
Being the first team to successfully merge and IPO during the healthcare commercialization lab course!
