Uploaded January 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
One billion dollars. That’s what today’s guest built — after being rejected on Shark Tank, nearly going bankrupt multiple times, and spending millions before making a single sale. In this video, Jamie Siminoff, founder of Ring, breaks down the real story behind building one of the most successful hardware startups of all time and selling it to Amazon for over $1B.
What you’ll learn in this video:
• How to validate and pre-sell a hardware product before manufacturing
• The real cost of R&D when building a physical product business
• How Shark Tank rejection can accelerate growth, not kill it
• Why domain names matter more than founders realise
• How Ring survived massive supplier debt and cash pressure
• The risks of scaling too fast and hiring ahead of systems
• How constraint and pressure forced breakthrough growth
• What founders get wrong about raising capital vs bootstrapping
By the end of this video, you’ll understand what it truly takes to build a billion-dollar hardware or eCommerce company — and how to avoid the mistakes that silently kill most physical product startups.
If you’re serious about building something real, durable, and valuable, this episode will change how you think about product, money, and scale.
SAVE 50% ON OMNISEND FOR 3 MONTHS
Get 50% off your first 3 months of email and SMS marketing with Omnisend using the code FOUNDR50. Start here → your.omnisend.com/foundr
HOW WE CAN HELP YOU SCALE YOUR BUSINESS FASTER
Learn directly from 7, 8 and 9-figure founders inside Foundr+
Start your $1 trial → foundr.com/startdollartrial
PREFER A CUSTOM ROADMAP AND 1-ON-1 COACHING?
Starting from scratch? Apply here → foundr.com/pages/coaching-start-application
Already have a store? Apply here → foundr.com/pages/coaching-growth-application
CONNECT WITH NATHAN CHAN
Instagram → instagram.com/nathanchan
LinkedIn → linkedin.com/in/nathanhchan
CONNECT WITH JAMIE
Website → ring.com
LinkedIn → linkedin.com/in/jamie-siminoff-aaa44238a
00:00 – Homeless to $1B Exit: Jamie Siminoff’s Ring Origin Story
02:03 – Inventing Doorbot in a Garage & Scratching His Own Itch
05:32 – Spending $2–3M on R&D Before the First Sale
09:48 – Pre-Selling a Hardware Product That Didn’t Exist Yet
13:42 – Manufacturing Nightmares, Prototypes & Finding Suppliers
18:54 – Shark Tank Rejection: Asking $700K for 10% and Getting Destroyed
24:10 – What Really Happened After Shark Tank Aired
28:36 – The Sales Surge: $100K Day One & $175K by Day Three
32:47 – Renaming Doorbot to Ring & Building a Mission Around Home Security
36:58 – Buying Ring.com for $1M With Only $187K in the Bank
40:52 – Hardware Economics: Margins, Inventory Risk & Near-Death Moments
45:41 – Losing a $100M Funding Round & Facing Bankruptcy
48:53 – The QVC Lifeline: Selling $23.6M in One Day
52:40 – From Crisis to Clarity: How Pressure Forced Peak Performance
56:27 – Scaling From 75 to 1,000 Employees in 18 Months (and Why It Failed)
01:01:12 – Selling Ring to Amazon in 45 Days
01:05:18 – Stepping Down as CEO, Returning as Chief Inventor
01:08:42 – Writing the Book & Lessons From Building a Billion-Dollar Hardware Company
01:12:30 – Jamie’s Final Advice for First-Time Hardware & eCommerce Founders
FOLLOW FOUNDR FOR MORE BUSINESS GROWTH STRATEGIES
YouTube → bit.ly/2uyvzdt
Website → foundr.com
Instagram → instagram.com/foundr
Facebook → facebook.com/foundr
Twitter → twitter.com/foundr
LinkedIn → linkedin.com/company/foundr
Podcast → foundr.com/podcast
One billion dollars. That’s what today’s guest built — after being rejected on Shark Tank, nearly going bankrupt multiple times, and spending millions before making a single sale. In this video, Jamie Siminoff, founder of Ring, breaks down the real story behind building one of the most successful hardware startups of all time and selling it to Amazon for over $1B.
What you’ll learn in this video:
• How to validate and pre-sell a hardware product before manufacturing
• The real cost of R&D when building a physical product business
• How Shark Tank rejection can accelerate growth, not kill it
• Why domain names matter more than founders realise
• How Ring survived massive supplier debt and cash pressure
• The risks of scaling too fast and hiring ahead of systems
• How constraint and pressure forced breakthrough growth
• What founders get wrong about raising capital vs bootstrapping
By the end of this video, you’ll understand what it truly takes to build a billion-dollar hardware or eCommerce company — and how to avoid the mistakes that silently kill most physical product startups.
If you’re serious about building something real, durable, and valuable, this episode will change how you think about product, money, and scale.
SAVE 50% ON OMNISEND FOR 3 MONTHS
Get 50% off your first 3 months of email and SMS marketing with Omnisend using the code FOUNDR50. Start here → your.omnisend.com/foundr
HOW WE CAN HELP YOU SCALE YOUR BUSINESS FASTER
Learn directly from 7, 8 and 9-figure founders inside Foundr+
Start your $1 trial → foundr.com/startdollartrial
PREFER A CUSTOM ROADMAP AND 1-ON-1 COACHING?
Starting from scratch? Apply here → foundr.com/pages/coaching-start-application
Already have a store? Apply here → foundr.com/pages/coaching-growth-application
CONNECT WITH NATHAN CHAN
Instagram → instagram.com/nathanchan
LinkedIn → linkedin.com/in/nathanhchan
CONNECT WITH JAMIE
Website → ring.com
LinkedIn → linkedin.com/in/jamie-siminoff-aaa44238a
00:00 – Homeless to $1B Exit: Jamie Siminoff’s Ring Origin Story
02:03 – Inventing Doorbot in a Garage & Scratching His Own Itch
05:32 – Spending $2–3M on R&D Before the First Sale
09:48 – Pre-Selling a Hardware Product That Didn’t Exist Yet
13:42 – Manufacturing Nightmares, Prototypes & Finding Suppliers
18:54 – Shark Tank Rejection: Asking $700K for 10% and Getting Destroyed
24:10 – What Really Happened After Shark Tank Aired
28:36 – The Sales Surge: $100K Day One & $175K by Day Three
32:47 – Renaming Doorbot to Ring & Building a Mission Around Home Security
36:58 – Buying Ring.com for $1M With Only $187K in the Bank
40:52 – Hardware Economics: Margins, Inventory Risk & Near-Death Moments
45:41 – Losing a $100M Funding Round & Facing Bankruptcy
48:53 – The QVC Lifeline: Selling $23.6M in One Day
52:40 – From Crisis to Clarity: How Pressure Forced Peak Performance
56:27 – Scaling From 75 to 1,000 Employees in 18 Months (and Why It Failed)
01:01:12 – Selling Ring to Amazon in 45 Days
01:05:18 – Stepping Down as CEO, Returning as Chief Inventor
01:08:42 – Writing the Book & Lessons From Building a Billion-Dollar Hardware Company
01:12:30 – Jamie’s Final Advice for First-Time Hardware & eCommerce Founders
FOLLOW FOUNDR FOR MORE BUSINESS GROWTH STRATEGIES
YouTube → bit.ly/2uyvzdt
Website → foundr.com
Instagram → instagram.com/foundr
Facebook → facebook.com/foundr
Twitter → twitter.com/foundr
LinkedIn → linkedin.com/company/foundr
Podcast → foundr.com/podcast
