# Ring: Jamie Siminoff

- Show: [How I Built This](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this)
- Published: 2020-06-22
- Length: 1h 29m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2020-06-22-ring-jamie-siminoff

## Summary

Jamie Siminoff, founder of Ring, explains how a personal frustration with hearing his doorbell from his garage led to the invention of the Doorbot, which evolved into Ring. He details the company's chaotic early stages, including a disastrous initial launch with non-updatable hardware and a pivotal, high-stakes appearance on Shark Tank that generated crucial early revenue. Siminoff describes the strategic pivot to rebrand as Ring, rebuilding the product and backend to focus on neighborhood safety, and the eventual $1 billion acquisition by Amazon.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2020-06-22-ring-jamie-siminoff#t=0) Introduction: Jamie Siminoff and the Ring Story
- [3:37](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2020-06-22-ring-jamie-siminoff#t=217) Siminoff's Early Tinkering and Serial Entrepreneurship
- [35:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2020-06-22-ring-jamie-siminoff#t=2100) Inventing the Doorbot to Solve a Garage Problem
- [49:38](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2020-06-22-ring-jamie-siminoff#t=2978) The Shark Tank Appearance and Initial Launch
- [59:04](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2020-06-22-ring-jamie-siminoff#t=3544) The Christmas Eve Disaster and Software Brick Issue
- [1:08:41](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2020-06-22-ring-jamie-siminoff#t=4121) Rebranding to Ring and the F5 Product Overhaul
- [1:18:51](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2020-06-22-ring-jamie-siminoff#t=4731) Law Enforcement Partnerships and Privacy Concerns
- [1:23:30](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2020-06-22-ring-jamie-siminoff#t=5010) The Amazon Acquisition and Siminoff's Reflections

## Topics

- [Starting a product company](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/starting-a-company)
- [Prototyping & iteration](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/prototyping)
- [Crowdfunding & preorders](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/crowdfunding)
- [Debugging & failure analysis](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/debugging-and-failure-analysis)
- [Marketing & brand](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/marketing-and-brand)
- [Security & privacy](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/security-and-privacy)

## Most relevant to

founders before launch, early-stage companies, companies scaling up

## Mentioned

- Ring (product)
- Doorbot (product)
- Shark Tank (other)
- Amazon (company)
- Unsubscribe.com (product)
- Phone Tag (product)
- Snap Garden (product)
- Christie Street (product)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [Intrapreneurship, Internal Incubation, Spinoffs, and IoT Product Development](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/over-the-air/2021-07-06-intrapreneurship-internal-incubation-spinoffs-and-iot-product-development) (Over the Air)
- [Jacob Morrise | Acing Your Senior Capstone Engineering Project](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2022-03-11-jacob-morrise-acing-your-senior-capstone-engineering-project) (Being an Engineer)
- [Ep. 39 - Starting a Hardware Company](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/open-hardware-manufacturing-podcast/2025-05-15-ep-39-starting-a-hardware-company) (Open Hardware Manufacturing Podcast)
- [Shiny New Pebble with Eric Migicovsky](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2026-02-10-shiny-new-pebble-with-eric-migicovsky) (The Amp Hour)
- [25: Q&A](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/thoroughly-considered/2017-03-30-25-q-a) (Thoroughly Considered)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2020-06-22-ring-jamie-siminoff. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to How I Built This.