Jamie Siminoff “is the founder and chief inventor of Ring,” Fortune says. The company began as “the tinkering project in the garage of founder and CEO Jamie Siminoff”: “A doorbell that could connect to your phone, Ring—originally called Doorbot.” In a 2023 statement quoted by Fortune, he said: “What started as just a quick weekend project to allow me to see who was at my door while working from my garage has become a household name brand at one of the world’s most innovative companies.”
“Jamie Siminoff pitched Doorbot, a smart video doorbell, on Shark Tank in 2013,” Fortune says. “Desperate for funds, he used the company’s last $20,000 to build an elaborate set to pitch the product.” “I was completely broke when I went on the show,” Siminoff said. He “had asked the Sharks for a $700,000 investment for a 10% stake in his company, valuing it at $7 million,” and in the pitch Daymond John said: “I’m wrestling over where this goes in the market.”
In the end, Fortune says, “only one judge, Kevin O’Leary, also known as ‘Mr. Wonderful,’ gave him an offer —which Siminoff ultimately rejected.” “Siminoff left empty-handed that day.” “The CEO recalled the sting of his drive home after the show, where his three dogs awaited him in his garage that doubled as his company’s headquarters.”
The company “had been renamed Ring in 2014,” and Fortune counts “hundreds of investors” who said no to him. But Richard Branson came in: “Siminoff later found out Branson was among the investors who gave $28 million in the company’s 2015 funding round.” So did Shaquille O’Neal: “Not only did O’Neal take a stake in the company, he became a spokesperson.”
“Ring later went on to be acquired by Amazon in 2018 for roughly $1 billion,” Fortune says; elsewhere it calls it “a reported $1 billion deal.” “Five years later, after Siminoff announced the deal with Amazon, another shark, Kevin O’Leary, changed his tune on the product, calling it ‘probably the biggest miss’ in the show’s history until that point.” And “Siminoff, for his part, eventually returned to Shark Tank in 2018, this time as a guest shark.” ABC7 News reported: “He’s the first person to ever go from contestant to shark in the show’s history.” “It’s pretty surreal, five years ago I came onto the Tank, drove from my garage to go there, I was like a broken inventor,” he said.
Fact check
The facts and where they come from
- He left Shark Tank with no deal, and five years later Amazon bought his company. Fortune (2025): “Siminoff left empty-handed that day. But just five years after Siminoff’s Shark Tank appearance, he sold his company, which had been renamed Ring in 2014, to Amazon for $1 billion.” 2
- His name is Jamie Siminoff. Fortune (2024): “Jamie Siminoff is the founder and chief inventor of Ring.” 1
- He built a video doorbell in his garage. Fortune (2024): “the company was the tinkering project in the garage of founder and CEO Jamie Siminoff”; “A doorbell that could connect to your phone, Ring—originally called Doorbot.” Siminoff, in a 2023 statement quoted by Fortune (2025): “What started as just a quick weekend project to allow me to see who was at my door while working from my garage has become a household name brand at one of the world’s most innovative companies.” 12
- He pitched it on Shark Tank in 2013. Fortune (2025): “Jamie Siminoff pitched Doorbot, a smart video doorbell, on Shark Tank in 2013.” Daymond John, in the pitch (Fortune): “I’m wrestling over where this goes in the market.” 2
- “I was completely broke when I went on the show,” he said. Fortune (2024): “‘I was completely broke when I went on the show,’ Siminoff said.” 1
- He had spent the company’s last $20,000 on his pitch set. Fortune (2024): “Desperate for funds, he used the company’s last $20,000 to build an elaborate set to pitch the product.” 1
- He asked for $700,000 for 10%. Fortune (2025): “Siminoff had asked the Sharks for a $700,000 investment for a 10% stake in his company, valuing it at $7 million.” 2
- Only one shark made an offer, and he turned it down. Fortune (2026): “only one judge, Kevin O’Leary, also known as ‘Mr. Wonderful,’ gave him an offer —which Siminoff ultimately rejected.” 3
- He drove home to his garage and three dogs. Fortune (2024): “The CEO recalled the sting of his drive home after the show, where his three dogs awaited him in his garage that doubled as his company’s headquarters.” 1
- He renamed it Ring, and hundreds of investors turned him down. Fortune (2025): “renamed Ring in 2014.” Fortune (2024): “one of hundreds of investors to say no to Siminoff.” 21
- Then Richard Branson invested, and so did Shaquille O’Neal. Fortune (2024): “Siminoff later found out Branson was among the investors who gave $28 million in the company’s 2015 funding round”; “Not only did O’Neal take a stake in the company, he became a spokesperson.” 1
- Amazon bought Ring in 2018, for a reported $1 billion. Fortune (2024): “Before doorbell company Ring was acquired by Amazon in a reported $1 billion deal.” Fortune (2026): “Ring later went on to be acquired by Amazon in 2018 for roughly $1 billion.” 13
- Kevin O’Leary called it “probably the biggest miss” the show had ever had. Fortune (2024): “Five years later, after Siminoff announced the deal with Amazon, another shark, Kevin O’Leary, changed his tune on the product, calling it ‘probably the biggest miss’ in the show’s history until that point.” 1
- That year, he returned as a shark, the first contestant ever to do it. Fortune (2026): “Siminoff, for his part, eventually returned to Shark Tank in 2018, this time as a guest shark.” ABC7 News (2018): “He’s the first person to ever go from contestant to shark in the show’s history.” 34
Sources
- Ring’s inventor was ‘completely broke’ before pitching his $1 billion idea to ‘Shark Tank’ and Amazon (Sasha Rogelberg, June 25, 2024) Fortune
- How Ring’s Jamie Siminoff went from ‘Shark Tank’ reject to $1 billion brand (Sydney Lake, July 17, 2025, updated) Fortune
- Ring CEO Jamie Siminoff says he prepared for his Shark Tank pitch like an Olympic athlete (Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez, March 7, 2026) Fortune
- Former ‘Shark Tank’ contestant Jamie Siminoff turns into Guest Shark in season premiere (2018) ABC7 News
Notes
The price: Fortune says “a reported $1 billion” and “roughly $1 billion”; Wikipedia’s Ring article gives about $839 million (Amazon’s own filing figure) in one place and about $1.15 billion in another. The Short says “a reported billion dollars.”
The offer: reports differ on the terms of Kevin O’Leary’s offer, so the Short says only that he made the only offer and that Siminoff turned it down. A popular retelling says Shark Tank rejected him; by Fortune’s account he got an offer and said no.
“The biggest miss”: Fortune’s words are “in the show’s history until that point”; the Short’s “the show had ever had” describes the time O’Leary said it.
“Hundreds of investors”: Fortune’s count covers his whole search for money, not only the years after the show, so the Short doesn’t say when they said no.
Left out for length: how he rehearsed for the pitch (Fortune, 2026) and his chance to sell on QVC in 2016 (Fortune, 2024).
Jamie Siminoff is alive. Only his business story, published reporting and his own published words are used; nothing here goes into his private life or his money beyond the reported sale. Kevin O’Leary is quoted only for his “biggest miss” line, and Daymond John, Richard Branson and Shaquille O’Neal are named only for their part in the story.
Pictures: no free photo shows the 2013 pitch, the Doorbot, his garage, the Amazon deal or his 2018 return as a shark; Shark Tank frames, ABC stills and company press photos aren’t used. Jamie Siminoff is on stage at TechCrunch Disrupt SF at the Moscone Center in San Francisco on September 6, 2018, the year of his return, in three event photos by Kimberly White/Getty Images for TechCrunch, released by TechCrunch; and at Web Summit in Lisbon on November 3, 2022, on Centre Stage and backstage, in two event photos by Stephen McCarthy/Web Summit via Sportsfile, released by Web Summit. Daymond John and Kevin O’Leary are at PaleyFest 2023 in Hollywood on October 16, 2023, not on the show (Philip Romano). Richard Branson is at Chatham House in London on March 4, 2015 (Chatham House, cropped), and Shaquille O’Neal is seen on October 3, 2017 (MarkScottAustinTX). The Amazon Spheres at Amazon’s headquarters in Seattle are seen on May 2, 2018 (Andy Li). The doorbells are later Ring models, not the Doorbot he pitched: on a door frame on December 10, 2019 (slgckgc), a Ring Video Doorbell 2 in 2020 (Amin) and one on a shop display on August 12, 2018 (Fastily). The garage workshop, photographed in 2024, is a stand-in, not his garage (Shixart1985). The other people in these photos are not named.
Photo credits
The archive photos in this story
The photographs and illustrations in this story are in the public domain or shared under open licenses; each one is credited below with its license. Tap one to enlarge it, or follow the link to its Wikimedia Commons page for the full record. The narration, captions and graphics in the Short are our own; its music and sound effects are credited below.
Music and sound effects
Music: Schumann, Kinderszenen, Op. 15: No. 1 'Of Foreign Lands and Peoples (Musopen, public domain); Mussorgsky, Pictures at an Exhibition: IV. Bydlo (piano) (Musopen, public domain); Dvorak, Symphony No. 9 'From the New World': II. Largo (Musopen, public domain).
Sound effects: Freesound, CC0.
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