Shark Tank: Why Mark Cuban Passed On Ring (And Would Pass Again Given The Chance)

Like his fellow "Shark Tank" cast members, Mark Cuban has deals he regrets not going in on. Yet, even given another chance, he maintains that he wouldn't be swayed by Ring founder Jamie Siminoff, one of the show's most successful entrepreneurs.

When Siminoff stepped into "Shark Tank" in 2013 to present his innovative smart doorbell, Doorbot, he failed to get a shark on board with his offer of $700,000 for a 10% stake in the company. Cuban, while liking the product, didn't see a way of adding value given the valuation. Following this, Doorbot, which was renamed to Ring, found other investors and expanded its product line, leading to a deal with Amazon in 2018 for $1 billion. 

In a response to a LinkedIn post describing the mistakes sharks have made in the past by not investing in certain products, Cuban states, "I would pass on Doorbot again if given the chance." Despite his respect for Siminoff and his success, the amount needed to grow the company was not in Cuban's favor. "I have a fundamental aversion to companies that require raising hundreds of millions of dollars to do less in revenues," he continues. "That's not a knock on Ring. He was on a mission and he is achieving it... It wasn't easy for him. This is about what I look for and Doorbot didn't fit."

The Dallas Mavericks owner is someone who is typically easy to agree with on his business viewpoints. However, it's safe to say that he missed out big time on what became a historic success. 

Jamie Siminoff is perhaps the most successful entrepreneur to be rejected from "Shark Tank." Siminoff's dismissal on "Shark Tank" was very upsetting for him, with the Ring creator telling GeekWire, "I went to my garage broke and broken, so it was a tough day... When your office is in your garage, failure is like a double hit." However, the show got him plenty of exposure and got the attention of recurring shark Richard Branson, who subsequently participated in a $28 million financing round for the company. This, combined with the aforementioned Amazon deal, would elevate Ring from a struggling garage-bound company to a booming business worth billions.

In 2018, Siminoff got a call to be a guest shark on the popular ABC series, an offer he gladly accepted. He went on to appear in the premiere episode of "Shark Tank" Season 10, making Siminoff the first contestant on the series to have a seat alongside the investors themselves. Siminoff went on to appear in one more Season 10 episode, making deals with businesses such as the traversable cooking pot Bear Minimum and the sustainable meat company Moink.

Siminoff certainly faced his fair share of bumps in the road in getting Ring to be the triumph it is now. But while many others would have given up after being turned down on "Shark Tank," Siminoff saw the opportunity for growth and pushed himself and those around him to succeed.