Jamie Beaton, CEO of Crimson Education, on 25 acceptances, 11 degrees and what actually gets you into a top university
“A lot of the time, the best mentors have more confidence in you than you even have in yourself. It’s a very powerful feeling.”
Jamie Beaton is co-founder and CEO of Crimson Education, the education consultancy he started at 17 that is now valued at over a billion dollars. Jamie was raised in Auckland by his mum, who instilled a love of learning early: maths and English classes from age three, Latin and history at home and a culture where academics felt like fun rather than stress. At 13, a conversation on a train with an older student who had just got into Yale changed everything. Jamie spent the next few years preparing for top universities, was accepted to 25 of them and went to Harvard two years ahead of schedule. He's now on his 12th degree. In a fascinating conversation with Walter Kerr, Jamie explains what Crimson actually does, shares his view that standardised exams outperform the alternatives and reflects on the late Julian Robertson, the mentor and seed investor who transformed the trajectory of his life.
🎙️ Episode highlights
Jamie traces it back to a train ride at 13: an older student had just got into Yale and told him he should think about applying abroad. No one in Jamie's family had ever left New Zealand for university.
He explains what his mum did differently: exposed him to a wide range of things early, pushed him ahead in maths and created a culture where learning was enjoyable rather than pressured.
Jamie shares his view that internal assessments and assignment-based systems rarely work. "I've actually never seen that work almost anywhere."
He argues that clear exam-based systems with consistent curriculum and grading, like A-levels, outperform the alternatives. "The basics sound dull and boring and old, but they generally outperform."
Jamie talks about Julian Robertson, founder of Tiger Management, who became his mentor and seed investor. "He had more confidence in me than I had in myself."
His advice to his 16-year-old self: slow down and treasure the relationships. "There's a trade-off between the speed of entrepreneurship and missing a lot of these other aspects of life."