Pure genius right? Jamie Siminoff got rejected on Shark Tank in 2013 then sold his business to amazon in 2018 for $1 billion dollars.
James Siminoff is the Founder, CEO, and Chief Inventor at Ring famously known as “Ring doorbell“. Working constantly in his garage, he wanted something that could contact his phone and show him who was at the front door. that was how the idea of a “video doorbell” came alive.
Jamie created the initial prototype in 2011. the new project took him a year to reach completion, and when he eventually released his product it was called “DoorBot” at the time.
seeking for investors he got a chance to be featured on Shark Tank in 2013. Unfortunately, Doorbot did not meet the show’s expectations so he got a negative response from investors.
Jamie wrote:
“I remember after that Shark Tank episode literally being in tears, I needed the money, we were out of money at the time.”
Interestingly, after Jamie’s episode on Shark Tank the product became popular as the audience and viewers thought the idea to be great unlike what the investors had decided. DoorBot sales skyrocketed to ~$3M same year.
Doorbot Financial success
Ring Doorbot success came alive when Jamie met Richard Branson. Richard saw the video doorbell in action. impressed with the products, he became an immediate investor Afterwards. the rest is history from there.
A $28 million round of funding from investors gave Richard Branson 5% of the company. the company was rebranded to “Ring” and went on to raise another $100 million the following year.
How Shaquille O’Neal Became an investor in Ring “Doorbot”
Shaquille O’Neal, the basket ball icon started off just as a customer. He was looking for home security solutions for his new home and felt cheated by other home security providers. Shaq noticed Ring Doorbell in a Best Buy and decided it was perfect for his needs. Walking pass the Consumer Electronic Show section (CES), he ran across Jamie, who happened to have an exhibit there.
After the meeting both men partnered up to create different commercials. Shaq received a million dollars worth of doorbells as give away to inner cities resident. The deal was in no time productive as only years later in 2018, the company “Ring” was sold to Amazon for $1 billion dollars.
