Jamie Siminoff swam with the sharks who rejected him five years ago, and in his return to “Shark Tank” for the season 10 premiere on Sunday night, the Ring founder and CEO held his own.
Siminoff, whose pitch for a video doorbell — called Doorbot at the time — was called the show’s greatest miss, eventually sold his company to Amazon earlier this year, and continues today on his mission of making neighborhoods safer.
“Well, well, well, look who’s back,” shark Kevin O’Leary said as Siminoff walked onto the set. “I was the only one that believed in you. … You deserve your seat there.”
Siminoff shook hands with fellow investors Daymond John, Lori Greiner and Mark Cuban, and Cuban told him to “have fun.”
A flashback video took viewers back to Siminoff’s story — one which he has been telling in the run-up to Sunday’s premiere, including at last week’s GeekWire Summit in Seattle. Siminoff was seeking to raise $700,000 from the sharks at a $7 million valuation for his company.
He said he was devastated when he left the show and returned to the garage where he ran his company, “but if it wasn’t for ‘Shark Tank,’ Ring would have never had the exposure that brought people like Richard Branson in to invest and build it into what it is today.”
The first pitch was very much targeted toward Siminoff’s expertise, as Brad Ruffkess, CEO and and founder of BoxLock, took the stage to try to woo the sharks on his package security idea.
Ruffkess was seeking $1 million for 5 percent of the company, saying that BoxLock was worth $20 million. The concept is a smart padlock that can be unlocked when it is used to scan the delivery number on a package. Delivery drivers then deposit a package inside box and re-lock it to try to thwart porch pirates.
Welcome guest shark @JamieSiminoff, a great example of a #DecadeOfDreams on #SharkTank! pic.twitter.com/R0Fd84Flo7
— Shark Tank (@ABCSharkTank) October 8, 2018
“It wasn’t long ago that someone very much involved in security came in here and asked for a ridiculous valuation,” O’Leary said in a nod to Siminoff. “I was the only shark that believed in him, and now look what happened.”
“What happened?” Siminoff replied.
“He could have made a lot of money, and instead he made some,” O’Leary answered.
John had a hard time with the BoxLock valuation, too, and O’Leary said, “Even the Ring guy wasn’t that aggressive.”
“Just because [package theft] is a big problem doesn’t mean you get a big valuation,” Siminoff said.
Would you invest in @getboxlock? ??#SharkTank pic.twitter.com/RC0pyAIWKp
— Shark Tank (@ABCSharkTank) October 8, 2018
And the Ring CEO ended up being the first one to pass, telling Ruffkess that he loves the market, but not the product.
“I literally sold my company for over $1 billion to Amazon, so I know package delivery. I control front doors,” Siminoff said. “I don’t like that you have to change user behavior to do this. Why Ring worked is we didn’t have to change the behavior of the customer. It still was a doorbell, it still worked, it just enhanced it. This changes where you put the package, how you deliver the package, the timing of the package. To ask for a $20 million valuation, it’s so far away from me — I’m out.”
Cuban, O’Leary and John all dropped out, too, before Greiner tried to make something happen. She even tried to lure Siminoff back in, to no avail.
“Jamie came in here with a big ask and he didn’t get it. Look where he stands now,” Ruffkess said after leaving the stage. “I look forward to having the tables turned and me sitting in his chair someday.”
If he does get to that chair (was Amazon watching again?) he’ll hear it from the other sharks, who jokingly called Siminoff a “dream killer” for not backing BoxLock.
