Ding Dong

How Ring Went from Shark Tank Reject to Everyone's Front Door

De: Jamie Siminoff, Andrew Postman

Narrado por: Jamie Siminoff

From a sweaty, near-catastrophic Shark Tank appearance to a billion-dollar acquisition by Amazon, Jamie Siminoff’s story of founding Ring is the ultimate underdog tale of relentless invention and grit. Through near-bankruptcy, factory disasters, and a maniacal focus on “the mission,” Jamie rallied a ragtag team of Craigslist hires to build one of the most iconic consumer tech brands of all time. Told with unfiltered honesty and humor, Ding Dong is a blueprint for anyone who’s been underestimated, rejected, or told to quit. When opportunity knocks, there’s only one question: Will you answer the door?

Jeff Bezos says, "Jamie is a real builder—scrappy, original, and unsatisfied by the status quo. He’s poured his missionary spirit into this book, and his story is a real world primer on founder mentality."

©2025 Your First Step, Inc. (P)2025 Your First Step, Inc.

I will never stop! War and F5!

These are some of the many takeaways from this story. Jamie explains how he built the doorbot, a Shark Tank reject to a unicorn that sold to for a $1 billion. That's billion with a B.

Never stop - in business the only thing that stops you, is yourself. Jamie's mantra was to never stop. The business had a series of issues like any other invention. It took many iterations and mistakes to get it right. There are countless of moments where he could have quit, but he would never stop.

War - Ring was at war on a constant basis. In fact, the rule was to not look at what competition was doing but to let the fear of competition drive innovation. Not worried about having patents and trademarks, Jamie took the business through various stages that he would call "we are at war" to drive his team for the next product launch.

F5 = Fuc...ng 5 star reviews. After receiving much feedback about issues with the first versions, Jamie decided to implement the F5 rule to completely change the re establish the mindset of the team. Mediocrity was no longer tolerated. The team had to do everything to deliver on a 5 star experience and product.

As an entrepreneur, I got to say major respect to everyone involved in believing in the mission because you truly make communities safer. That was and still is the company mission.

As a husband, it definitely makes me feel safer for my family to have a ring at home and in my business.

I found this book after following Jamie since the shark tank episode, to buying the products, to hearing about the sale of the company, to seeing him as a shark tank guest shark to an interview in the first million podcast.

This book is for any inventor that needs encouragement and inspiration to understand that what you are doing has never been done before and it's going to require everything you got to bring your idea to life. Even if it takes creating a laboratory of inventions just like Jamie tried until he found the one.

Amazing story. Inspired.

Well done Jamie and the Ring team'

I loved it!

A relatable rollercoaster which kept me wanting to listen more. Great story! Well worth listening too. I highly recommend.

Incredible, Raw, and Deeply Motivating

I do not write many book reviews, but this book absolutely deserves one.

This is an incredible story from start to finish. It kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. What struck me most was how raw and honest the journey is. It perfectly captures the hardship, uncertainty, risk, and constant emotional roller coaster that comes with building something from nothing.

Like many people, I have followed entrepreneurial stories from the outside, where success can look clean and inevitable. This book strips that illusion away. It shows what actually sits underneath success. The fear. The near-failures. The moments where everything feels like it could collapse at any second. There are no guarantees. Just persistence, belief, and the willingness to keep going when logic says you should quit.

As an entrepreneur myself, I saw so many parallels with my own journey, obviously on a much smaller scale, but emotionally very familiar. The constant pressure. The doubt. The hope. That almost unnatural belief that somehow you will make it work, even when the odds are stacked against you.

This reminded me a lot of Shoe Dog by Phil Knight. That same feeling of being perpetually one step away from failure, and yet continuing forward anyway. The book reinforced something important for me. Success is not about ease or luck. It is about how much pain, fear, uncertainty, and responsibility you are willing to carry without breaking.

I am grateful to the author for telling this story so openly and in such detail. It is motivating, inspiring, and grounding all at once. For anyone who is an entrepreneur, thinking about becoming one, or simply fascinated by real startup journeys, this is a must-read.

I am so glad I found this book. It is easily in my top five.

Man in the arena

Seriously one of the best books I’ve ever listened to! The grit and perseverance is incredible. And the detailed storytelling is so moving.