Zero-Based Budgeting and First Principles

Jamie Siminoff built the first WiFi video doorbell in his garage, got rejected on Shark Tank, and nearly went bankrupt "at least four times" while growing Ring into one of the largest consumer hardware businesses in the world.

We talk about the $1.15B sale to Amazon, coming back to lead Ring after leaving post-exit, and what he learned having a fresh set of eyes on the business.

We also get into the near death stories, like Christmas the company almost died from $1M of bricked doorbells, the $175k "F you, wire it" fight for the Ring.com domain, betting millions on TV ads when the board said no, landing Shaq as an early investor and celebrity endorser, the real backstage story of three dead demo units on Shark Tank, and why Jamie thinks AI can zero out crime in neighborhoods.

Thanks to this episode's sponsors:

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Timestamps:

(0:00) Leaving Amazon, coming back with fresh eyes

(7:49) Deleting every useless meeting

(10:21) Zero-based time budgeting

(15:31) Bubble, or the golden age of AI?

(19:50) $480M to several billion in revenue

(23:48) Lessons on obsession from MrBeast

(30:17) The AI vision for Ring

(34:05) The $10k feature he can't ship yet

(38:50) Building apps on top of Ring

(40:03) Building in his garage, the Kickstarter ban

(44:45) The pre-sale, and the fear of getting copied

(47:59) How he talked his way onto Shark Tank

(49:24) Three dead units backstage

(54:04) Threatening Shopify's CEO before air

(55:23) The Christmas Ring almost died

(58:59) The midnight fix that saved the company

(1:01:22) Raising from True Ventures, the "ass hat" email

(1:05:04) Hiring gritty “new to business” people

(1:07:15) Missionaries, not mercenaries

(1:10:13) Building an authentic brand people trust

(1:12:49) Buying Ring.com with the last $175k of cash

(1:18:11) “We were always on the verge of bankruptcy”

(1:19:12) Betting $1M on TV ads when the board said no

(1:22:43) Why TV ads actually work

(1:25:26) Richard Branson, and doubling mid-raise

(1:28:46) Closing Shaq, how to do authentic celebrity endorsements

(1:33:27) Selling to Amazon for $1.15 billion

(1:35:16) Being paranoid to lose people's money

(1:36:38) Mentors, and never meeting your heroes

Referenced:

Ring: https://ring.com

Dyson: https://www.dyson.com

True Ventures: https://www.trueventures.com

Om Malik: https://om.co

Adam D'Augelli: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamdaugelli/

Saar Gur: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saargur/

Eoghan McCabe: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eoghanmccabe/

Sky Dayton: https://www.skydayton.com/

Tobi Lütke: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tobiaslutke/

Follow Jamie

Twitter: https://x.com/JamieSiminoff

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamiesiminoff/

Follow Turner

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TurnerNovak

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/turnernovak

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