The Twenty Minute VC

Ring CEO Jamie Siminoff: The $1BN Amazon Acquisition; How Richard Branson Invested | 20VC #984

Jamie Siminoff is the Founder and Chief Inventor @ Ring, with Ring Jamie, created the world’s first Wi-Fi video doorbell while working in his garage in 2011. Since Ring’s launch in 2013, Ring has helped make thousands of neighborhoods safer all around the world. As part of the journey, Jamie raised over $385M from the likes of True Ventures, Felicis, First Round, CRV, Upfront and more. In 2018, Amazon acquired Ring for a reported $1BN. Prior to Ring, Jamie founded several successful ventures including PhoneTag, the world’s first voicemail-to-text company, and Unsubscribe.com, a service that helped email users clean commercial email from their inboxes. He successfully sold both companies in 2009 and 2011 respectively. ---------------------------------------------- Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 1:04 Ring’s Founding Story 2:23 Who is Jamie Siminoff? 5:41 How Richard Branson Became and Investor in Ring 10:36 The Secret to Hiring 13:58 Ring’s Near-Death Experience 20:42 What does it mean to have a great brand? 23:48 What is “ground truth”? 25:19 How to Take Customer Feedback 27:17 Taking on Tony Fadell and Google 30:23 Mission-Driven Investing 34:55 What would you have done differently with Ring? 36:04 The Best CEOs Inject Risk Into the Business 38:01 The $1BN Amazon-Ring Acquisition 53:15 Emotional Leaders 54:57 Jamie is Stepping Down from CEO 57:16 Parenting Tips 1:01:38 Marriage Tips 1:03:15 Tolerance for Mediocrity 1:05:15 Quick-Fire Round ---------------------------------------------- In Today’s Episode with Jamie Siminoff We Discuss: 1.) From Creating the First Wi-Fi Doorbell to $BN Acquisition: When was the moment Jamie realized he had to create the world’s first Wi-Fi-enabled doorbell? How di Richard Branson come to be an investor in Ring? What was the process? How does Jamie advise other founders when it comes to the question of whether it is valuable having business moguls as investors in their business? 2.) Crucible Moments: From Lawsuits and Near-Death to $22M in Sales in a Day: When Jamie hears the words “near-death experience” what is the moment in the Ring journey that comes to mind? How did Jamie get through a crippling lawsuit and come out selling $22M in 24 hours on QVC? How did Jamie feel when he placed a $500M order with manufacturers when he only had $100M? What does Jamie believe was the hardest phase of the business? 3.) Jamie Siminoff: The Leader: Why does Jamie want to hire marathon runners? Why does the analogy make for good hires? Does Jamie start from a position of trust with new hires and it is there to be built or start with no trust and it is there to be gained? Does Jamie believe he is a tolerant leader? What does he mean when he says, “I want to see the dirt under your fingernails”? Why does Jamie believe that building a brand is like making great wine? Why does Jamie really hate customer surveys? What should be done instead? 4.) Selling for $1BN to Amazon: How did the Amazon acquisition come to be? How did the discussion go? Why did Jamie decide then was the right time? When you sell for a $1BN, does the cash hit your account soon? When did Jamie actually receive the money? How did he feel when he saw it is in his account? What does Jamie believe Ring did so well to make the acquisition a success? What did Amazon do well to ensure Ring was integrated most effectively? What are 1-2 of the biggest lessons Jamie has learned from being within Amazon? ---------------------------------------------- Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3j2KMcZTtgTNBKwtZBMHvl?si=85bc9196860e4466 Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-twenty-minute-vc-20vc-venture-capital-startup/id958230465 Follow Harry Stebbings on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HarryStebbings Follow Jamie Siminoff on Twitter: https://twitter.com/JamieSiminoff Follow 20VC on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/20vc_reels Follow 20VC on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@20vc_tok Visit our Website: https://www.20vc.com -------------------------------------------------- #JamieSiminoff #RingDoorbell #HarryStebbings #20vc #amazon #businessadvice #startups #richardbranson

Jamie SiminoffguestHarry Stebbingshost

Mar 2, 20231h 11mWatch on YouTube ↗

WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT

Ring’s Jamie Siminoff: Fear, Mission, And A Billion-Dollar Exit

Jamie Siminoff, founder of Ring, recounts the slow, iterative creation of the video doorbell from a garage hack to a billion‑dollar Amazon acquisition, driven by a clear mission: making neighborhoods safer.
He explains how missionary obsession, “dirt under your fingernails” work ethic, and deep customer listening—rather than silver bullets or celebrity investors—built Ring’s brand and growth.
Siminoff shares multiple near‑death moments, including a pulled $100M round and an injunction right before the holidays, and how calm execution, transparency with the team, and relentless selling pulled the company back from the brink.
He also reflects on life post‑acquisition, his decision to step down as CEO to become Chief Inventor, his fear‑driven motivation, views on venture capital, and how fatherhood and personal balance shape his leadership.

IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING

5 ideas

A clear mission is more powerful than any single ‘silver bullet’.

Siminoff credits Ring’s success to its mission—“make neighborhoods safer”—and thousands of small, aligned actions, rather than one defining event or hack. The mission filtered which products to build and which investors to choose.

Celebrity investors amplify momentum, but only as part of a broader strategy.

Richard Branson’s investment and public endorsement gave Ring credibility, but Siminoff emphasizes it was just one of many coordinated brand‑building moves, not a magic customer-acquisition lever on its own.

Extreme candor in crises can unify teams instead of scaring them off.

When a $100M round collapsed and an injunction threatened the business, Siminoff exposed the full situation to his team, which triggered a “war-time” mentality where everyone rallied to sell through inventory and save the company.

Ground-truth customer feedback beats surveys for product direction.

He dismisses high-level satisfaction metrics and instead relies on direct, unfiltered input—email on every box, social channels, and conversations—to spot real problems and opportunities, such as building a car camera or indoor drone camera.

Brand is built from authentic, consistent behavior at every touchpoint.

For Ring, a strong brand means that seeing the logo instantly signals safety; achieving that came from aligning product decisions, packaging, support, messaging, and leadership behavior—not from superficial storytelling or agency work.

WORDS WORTH SAVING

5 quotes

The mission made Ring. It wasn’t a silver bullet; it was a thousand things driving toward making neighborhoods safer.

— Jamie Siminoff

I want the people that are missionary, passionate, dirt under their fingernails, who realize this has to happen.

— Jamie Siminoff

Everyone wants the silver bullet. The only job you have all day is to listen to your customers.

— Jamie Siminoff

I live in fear. I’m so in fear of everything that I overcompensate on the other side.

— Jamie Siminoff

When we got acquired, I was all in on being an Amazonian. Nothing’s perfect, but we were going to do this together.

— Jamie Siminoff

Origin and iterative ‘a‑ha’ of the Ring video doorbellMission-driven entrepreneurship and ‘dirt under your fingernails’ work ethicValue and limits of celebrity investors like Richard BransonNear-death financial crises, risk, and navigating hypergrowthBrand-building through authenticity and obsessive customer listeningAmazon’s acquisition of Ring and successful post-merger integrationPersonal drivers: fear, fatherhood, leadership style, and stepping down as CEO

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