Ring Founder Returns to Amazon After $1 Billion Exit

Jamie Siminoff, the founder of Ring, initially pitched his smart video doorbell, then called Doorbot, on the television show Shark Tank in 2013. Despite his efforts, none of the investors, known as Sharks, saw enough potential in the product to invest. Siminoff sought a $700,000 investment for a 10% stake in his company, valuing it at $7 million. He described Doorbot as a caller ID for doorbells, highlighting that the company had done about $1 million in business with each unit priced at $199 during its first nine months. However, several Sharks expressed doubts about the product's market potential and the value they could offer to the company. Daymond John, for instance, struggled to see where the product fit in the market. Kevin O’Leary offered $700,000 with a 10% royalty that would decrease to 7% after he recouped his initial investment, plus 5% of the company’s equity, but Siminoff declined.

Despite the rejection, Siminoff rebranded Doorbot as Ring in 2014 and leveraged the publicity from Shark Tank to attract new investors. Just five years after his appearance on the show, he sold Ring to Amazon for about $1 billion. Today, Ring is installed in millions of homes and is considered one of Shark Tank’s most prominent “misses.” Kevin O’Leary later admitted in 2018 that his decision not to invest in Ring was “probably the biggest miss” in the show’s history up until that point. Mark Cuban, another Shark, maintained his position in a 2018 LinkedIn post, stating he wouldn’t invest in Ring even if given the chance again, citing his aversion to companies that require raising hundreds of millions of dollars to do less in revenues.

Ring’s journey began in Siminoff’s garage, much like many other major tech companies. He aimed to create a doorbell that could connect to a person’s phone and be cheap to produce. However, the project turned out to be more complex than anticipated. Siminoff even used his last $20,000 to build an elaborate set for his Shark Tank pitch, but he didn’t land a deal. Despite this setback, Siminoff continued to develop his product. Although he didn’t secure a deal with Lori Greiner on Shark Tank, he still got to sell his product on QVC in 2016. The visibility from Shark Tank also attracted investors including basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal and Virgin Group cofounder Sir Richard Branson.

After a decade of building Ring and five years of integrating it into Amazon’s smart-home product line, Siminoff parted ways with the e-commerce giant in May 2023. He cited pursuing other opportunities as the reason for his departure, with Liz Hamren taking over as CEO of Ring. Siminoff then became CEO of smart-lock company Latch. However, about two years later, Siminoff returned to Amazon as vice president overseeing Ring and several other smart-home initiatives. His first message to employees and customers was a return to the company’s original mission of making neighborhoods safer. Siminoff emphasized faster execution, better efficiency, and the use of AI more extensively. He stated that Ring is being reimagined from the ground up with an AI-first approach, capturing the same energy and potential to revolutionize neighborhood safety as in the early days.