The Deal All The Sharks Regret Passing Up On

When Jamie Siminoff, who is now Ring ‘s CEO, appeared on Shark Tank in 2013, he pitched the DoorBot, a caller ID for the door — the doorbell with an embedded video camera that delivers warnings and video feed straight to the owner’s smartphone. Homeowners can either see and speak to someone through the device or fully ignore a solicitor at their front door. 

The device gives homeowners the impression that they’re home when they could be anywhere in the world. Because many burglars like to ring the doorbell to see if someone is home before a break-in, the tool serves as an additional security feature in very convenient form.

Siminoff had already brought in over $1 million in annual sales during his appearance on the show and seemed confident the sharks would fight for the opportunity to invest. He requested $700,000 from the sharks, valuing his business at $7 million. However, one by one, all the sharks backed out except for Kevin O’Leary, who offered a $700,000 loan, taking 10 percent on all sales until the loan was paid off, and a 7 percent royalty on all future sales, in addition to 5 percent of the company ‘s equity. 

Siminoff dropped the deal, and left empty-handed.

After Ring’s Shark Tank Appearance 

Sales began to increase after the taping of the program and Siminoff received the $700,000 from various outlets before the series had aired. Siminoff said revenues soared an additional $5 million after DoorBot aired on Shark Tank. Billionaire Richard Branson was then part of a consortium of venture capital investors who poured $28 million into Ring, giving the firm a $60 million valuation. The enterprise raised a whopping $109 million from VCs in early 2017.

A little over a year later, Amazon spent $1 billion to acquire the smart doorbell. Amazon previously invested in Ring through its investment Alexa Fund, which invests exclusively in Alexa-powered devices. Ring had earned $209 million at the time of the takeover, and was last estimated at $760 million according to Pitchbook. Siminoff has been a guest on ABC’s Shark Tank after his company’s massive success.