I love watching Shark Tank, but rarely has any pitch brought me attention. However, two companies rang a bell. One is Scrub Daddy, which is one of the most famous and successful deals made throughout the show. The other is Ring, which was called Doorbot. On the show, the founder, Jamie Siminoff, was seeking $700,000 for a 10% stake in Doorbot. At the end of the pitch, he was rejected. The next time he returned was in 2018. However, this time, he was on the other side of the room, as a Shark guest.
But how?
1. Persistent Pays-off
According to the article on Forbes, Jamie Siminoff faced many challenges and rejections while creating Ring. Not only did he invest his own money to produce the first batch of doorbells, but he also struggled to find investors, including the rejection on Shark Tank. In an interview with GeekWire, Siminoff says: “I went to my garage broke and broken, so it was a tough day... When your office is in your garage, failure is like a double hit."
But the failure did not stop him. The show provided him with exposure and the interest of a recurring shark, Richard Branson, who later took part in a $28 million funding round for the company. Finally, he sold his company to Amazon for $1.1 billion, achieving his mission and becoming a successful entrepreneur.
Jamie Siminoff on Shark Tank (Source: CNBC)
2. Innovate, and Adapt
A way to approach innovation is called ideation, or, in other words, idea generation. That is, to think about a problem and a solution and use experience to find approaches to issues. Innovation, according to Joseph Schumpeter, former Finance Minister of Germany-Austria, plays a key role in entrepreneurship and the advancement of the economy. It is to provide something that has new features that differentiate your products from the market.
The genesis of the Ring was quite straightforward: Jamie Siminoff's wife complained that she couldn’t hear the doorbell, prompting him to develop a smartphone-connected doorbell. The company then expanded their product range by adding a series of varieties, such as motion-activated night-vision cameras. This diversification significantly contributed to Ring's revenue in 2017, which reached $415 million.
Ring (Source: Ring on X)
3. Know your Resources and Opportunities
The start of the business was tough for Siminoff; however, partnerships helped Siminoff overcome challenges in funding, manufacturing, marketing, and distribution.
One significant factor in why the business was able to expand and grow was its collaboration with Foxconn. It helped him to manufacture doorbells at scale and reduce his costs, which also helped him improve the design and functionality of his product.
On another note, they also partnered with LAPD and gave away 40 doorbells to help prevent burglaries, which also promoted the business and gained credibility and trust among his target customers.
Most importantly, his appearance on Shark Tank helped him gain exposure to the product, which made an impact even though he did not secure a deal.
Conclusion
The journey of Jamie Siminoff, from a Shark Tank rejection to becoming a billionaire, offers valuable lessons for aspiring entrepreneurs. I think Siminoff's journey is only one of the ways to be successful, but it offers lessons to learn, which involve a combination of determination, innovation, and the effective utilisation of available resources. It is certainly an inspiring example for all those who aspire to turn their entrepreneurial dreams into reality.
Bibliography
Adams, S. (2018). The Exclusive Inside Story Of Ring: From ‘Shark Tank’ Reject To Amazon’s Latest Acquisition. Forbes. [online] 28 Feb. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2018/02/27/amazon-is-buying-ring-the-pioneer-of-the-video-doorbell-for-1-billion/.
Bishop, T. (2019). Shark Tank’s billion-dollar blunder: How startup Ring went from TV rejection to Amazon acquisition. [online] GeekWire. Available at: https://www.geekwire.com/2019/shark-tanks-billion-dollar-blunder-startup-ring-went-tv-rejection-amazon-acquisition/.
Montag, A. (2019). Amazon bought ‘Shark Tank’ reject Ring last year—here’s what the founder says about Jeff Bezos. [online] CNBC. Available at: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/27/amazon-buys-ring-a-former-shark-tank-reject.html.
TheRichest (2022). The Ring Story: From A Rejected Shark Tank Pitch To A $1 Billion Deal With Amazon. [online] TheRichest. Available at: https://www.therichest.com/rich-powerful/the-ring-story-from-a-rejected-shark-tank-pitch-to-a-1-billion-deal-with-amazon/.
By Yen Yu Lin
Blogger
Edited by Samuel Golder
Founder
Comments