IN THIS EPISODE:
of Rise & Grind, episode 46 we chat with James (Jamie) Siminoff, the CEO and Founder of Ring, a video Doorbell that lets you answer the door from anywhere using your smartphone. Their mission is extremely noble. To reduce criminality. It was previously known as Doorbot and it might ring a bell (no pun intended) as Jamie appeared on Shark Tank Season 3.
If you are a frequent listener of our show you might recall our episode number 6 where we talked with Tanner Dame, I used a very provocative title "Is this company Sharks’ biggest missed opportunity?" as the sharks missed a great investment opportunity.
Well, with Jamie and Ring the sharks made a huge mistake, again.
But let's start by the beginning.
Jamie, a serial entrepreneur, started Ring because of necessity, as other great entrepreneurial stories. One day he was in the garage and couldn't hear the doorbell. That was his a-ha moment.
In college he studied entrepreneurship and he is a self-taught engineer, he mentions he's always been a tinker, always busy in the garage creating new products.
I tried to get his secret sauce to create physical products but Siminoff replied "I don't know how to explain how to create something. I just do stuff. It kind of happened."
Siminoff's journey with Ring has been quite remarkable.
He started by creating his own pre-orders' website as Kickstarter at the time didn't accept products with cameras. Then he got to know about Shark Tank via a personal friend who knew a Shark Tank producer.
He appeared in Season 3 and only O'Leary was interested in Ring (at that time called Doorbot) but as sometimes Mr. Wonderful does he made a truly bad offer that Siminoff couldn't accept even though he was pretty desperate for money.
That didn't hit his self-confidence and he gives a lot of credit to Shark Tank for his success.
Even today people tell him that they saw the product on Shark Tank.
The Shark Tank effect is certainly difficult to quantify but he mentions that it is "between 5 and 10 million".
Sales were growing and then something truly amazing happened. He received an email from Richard Branson asking if he could invest. Siminoff accept and Branson became an investor. Big time. $28 million dollars and Branson has become one of the biggest supporters of Ring.
Jamie couldn't share revenue numbers but looking at the following data you can certainly say that the Sharks let an amazing investing opportunity fly way:
Raised $100 million to date
550 people on his team.
Ring is present in 15000 stores in the US and growing globally.
"I think big mistakes are the ones that kill you, all the other mistakes are lessons." - James Siminoff
Listen now to this amazing interview with James Siminoff from Ring.com
WHAT WILL YOU LEARN:
How people understimate what they can learn on their own.
Why you shouldn't rush when creating a product, good things take time.
Why choosing a right name for a consumer product is fundamental.
How much a premium domain like Ring.com can cost
FIREBOLT ROUND
Favorite Business Book: Biography of Walt Disney
Favorite online tool: Gmail
Somebody you admire and follow: Jeff Bezos
Knowing what you know now and If you wanted or had to start a new business today, what would you do?:"I am so immersed in Ring that I can't even think what's going on in the world right now"
Motivational quote?: “In the short term the markets are a voting machine, in the long term they are a weighing machine." - Warren Buffett
What advice would you give to your 20-year-old self?: “Be calm, understand what you like and do that. Don't rush everything."
Thanks so much for listening!