The creator of the first Wi-Fi video doorbell, Jamie Siminoff, has one of the most inspiring stories from Shark Tank. He failed to get a deal on the show after pitching his startup, Ring (originally called Doorbot). Amazon’s acquisition of Ring, propelled Jamie Siminoff’s net worth to $300 million! Amazingly, he returned to the show as a guest Shark!
Early Life
Jamie Siminoff was born in Chester, New Jersey on October 18, 1976. He is a full-blooded American, but he has not revealed much information about his parents or early childhood.
Some sources reveal that his father was a businessman and co-founded a pipe manufacturing company. If so, entrepreneurship was in his blood. He went to West Morris Mendham, a public comprehensive high school and enrolled in Babson College, graduating with a degree in entrepreneurship in 1999.
Career Beginnings
Siminoff started his first company, Your First International after graduating from college. However, the business failed. He bounced back in 2003 to launch PhoneTag, the world’s first technology that transcribes voicemail into text. In 2009, PhoneTag sold for a cool $17 million to SimulScribe.
Next, Jamie moved onto Unsubscribe.com, a service that helps users unsubscribe from junk emails. The venture raised $2.1 million and was acquired by TrustedID but the sale price wasn’t disclosed.
Fresh with cash from two sales, Siminoff was inspired to create something to answer the doorbell without interrupting his work. He came up with Doorbot, a doorbell with video features connected to its owner’s smartphone.
Road to Prominence
At first, the serial entrepreneur created the products in his garage. However, he realized that if he wanted to scale production, he needed to raise money again. In 2013, he appeared on Shark Tank, seeking $700,000 in exchange for 10% of his startup.
Kevin O’Leary offered to loan the business money but Jamie didn’t want any debt. Although the Sharks were fascinated by his brilliant idea, Siminoff left the show without a deal. Still, the publicity from the show linked him to other big-time investors, including billionaire Richard Branson.
Later on, Doorbot rebranded to Ring and was bought by Amazon for over $1 billion in 2018. Later that year, he got a call from Shark Tank producers asking him to return to the show. But this time as a guest Shark! He ended up investing $400,000 in Moink, a meat delivery company.
Net Worth and Earnings
While Jamie was still the CEO of PhoneTag, it was making $2 million annually and Unsubscribe.com was making $25,000 to $100,000 a year before he sold it in 2011. These companies were fairly successful, but Ring is clearly his most profitable venture.
The company raised more than $200 million before it was acquired by Amazon for over $1 billion. Once the sale closed, it left Jamie with a $300 million net worth. The smart home company had sales of $415 million in 2017 and currently makes $619.4 million per year as estimated by growjo.com.
As expected, the entrepreneur created another business called Honest Day’s Work. In May 2023, Latch exchanged 27 million shares worth around $22 million to take over Honest Day’s Work.
Personal Life
Back in 2006, Siminoff married Erin Lindsey, she’s Vice President of ProductionFox 2000 according to her LinkedIn profile. Jamie and Erin are raising a son, Oliver and reside in Santa Monica, California.
