From DoorBot to Ring: Jamie Siminoff on Grit and What's Next | 2026 Upfront Summit

Jamie Siminoff, founder of Ring, sits down with Hamet Watt (founder & CEO of Share Ventures) at the 2026 Upfront Summit to talk about selling Ring to Amazon for $1 billion, why he left, and why AI brought him back. Jamie opens up about Ring's multiple near-death experiences before it became a household name, how a personal experience with the LA wildfires led a new disaster response feature, and what it's like to build a startup culture inside one of the world's largest companies. Topics covered: - How Ring went from "DoorBot" to a $1B acquisition and 100 million cameras worldwide - Why Jamie left Amazon after five years, and what brought him back - How Ring's camera network is helping reunite lost dogs and fight wildfires in real time - How Jamie incentivizes his team to actually use AI productively - Why founders stay at Amazon: autonomy, scale, and the ability to have real impact