Tuesday, Sep 22, 2026 · 1 hr 4 min

The Inventor of Ring Was Bankrupt. Here’s How He Turned it Around.

Show Notes

Jamie Siminoff was personally bankrupt before Shark Tank even aired. When Kevin O'Leary offered him $700K for 10% of his company, he walked away with no deal. Amazon bought that company, Ring, for $1.15 billion.

In this episode of Build or Break, Jamie breaks down the actual mechanics behind the story most people only know the headline version of: why he turned down Mr. Wonderful on national TV, how everything almost fell apart before Shark Tank even filmed, and what he says now about first-night sales numbers that most founders get wrong. He also gets into the failed products before Ring (including an email he sent Nest's founder that changed his approach), what Ring's Fire Watch tool did during the Palisades fires, and why the app has reunited millions of lost dogs with their families.

Daniel Lubetzky sits down with Jamie for an unfiltered conversation about rejection, conviction, and fish tanks. Fish tanks? Yes, fish tanks.

Cold Open & Intro
Meet Jamie Siminoff, the Garage Inventor Turned Billion-Dollar Founder
The Doorbot Era: Pre-Sales, Debt, and Desperation
Shark Tank: The Pitch That Almost Saved Him
The November Miracle: When Everything Changed
From DoorBot to Ring: Rebuilding Everything in Nine Months
The Safety Pivot: When Crime-Solving Became the Mission
The Mind of an Inventor: From Fish Tanks to Floodlights
Life at Amazon: The Entrepreneur in the Machine
The Mexican Inquisition: Jamie Sets a New Record