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Wondery subscribers can listen to how I built this early and ad free right now. Join Wondery in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. Remember dongles? Each piece of tech had its own plug and none of it worked together. That's where a lot of businesses are with AI. Discover AI that can work seamlessly across your data and applications@IBM.com the AI built for business IBM. If you've started your own business, you know just how many challenges there are, big and small. I mean, look at how I built this building. This show came with a lot of trials. Late nights, very, very early mornings. But even though there were challenges getting started, there is something that makes setting up a new business easier. Getting connected with AT&T business it doesn't matter what your business is, dealing with it at&t business helps to make it much, much easier. And that's the point of a provider in the first place. Making building your dream easier. Wake up to the power of ATT business@business.att.com that's business.att.com if you've shopped online, chances are you've bought from a business powered by Shopify. You know that purple shop pay button you see at checkout? The one that makes buying so incredibly eas? That's Shopify. And there's a reason so many businesses sell with it. Because Shopify doesn't just make amazing buying experiences for customers. They're also the experts in helping small businesses grow big. Stop seeing carts going abandoned and turn those sales into sign up for your $1 per month trial and start selling today at shopify.combilt go to shopify.combilt shopify.combilt hey everyone, it's Guy here. So our team is taking a short break for the end of the summer and we're bringing you an awesome episode from the archives. This is an advice line with Jamie Siminoff, the founder of Ring and he is going to give amazing advice to to three up and coming entrepreneurs. And if you stick around to the end of the episode, you'll hear some updates from all of these founders. It's super cool. Enjoy the show. Hello and welcome to the advice line on how I built this lab. I'm Guy Raz. This is the place where we help try to solve your business challenges. Each week I'm joined by a legendary founder, a former guest on the show who will attempt with me to help you. And if you're building something and you need advice, give us a call and you just might be the next guest on the show. Our number is 1-800-433-1298. Send us a 1 minute message that tells us about your business and the issues or questions that you'd like help with. You can also send us a voice memo@hibt.wondery.com and make sure to tell us how to reach you. And also, don't forget to sign up for my newsletter. It's full of insights and ideas from the world's greatest entrepreneurs. You can sign up for free@guyraz.com and we'll put all this info in the podcast description. All right, let's get to it. Joining me this week is Jamie Siminoff. He's the creator of the Ring video Doorbell. Jamie, welcome back to the show.
B
Thanks for having me back on.
A
It's great to have you. Jamie, I remember when you were on the show back in 2020 to of course tell the story of how you created Ring. You were, you know, you are were and are a tinkerer. Like you made your first prototype. It would become the Ring doorbell. Like in your garage, right?
B
That's exactly. Yeah. I was in my garage and couldn't hear the doorbell and just got an iPhone and you know, like anyone just build your own WI fi doorbell.
A
Yeah. And of course you pursued that idea which, which was a bet that would eventually pay off in spades when, when Ring was acquired by Amazon. But there was a lot of, a lot of false starts. There was a, you were on Shark Tank and that didn't work out and you shipped thousands of doorbells that didn't work initially. Since you've been on the show, give us an update of what's going on in your life right now.
B
So I ended up leaving Amazon and Ring about a year ago I started a company called Honest Days Work, which the idea was that there's better ways to build platforms for independent contract ones that really care about the job, which we call the Honest Days Worker. I then merged that into a public company that had a lot of trouble that was doing door locks and systems for apartments. So if you think about it, apartment buildings are amazing places for independent contractors because there's a lot of scale right there. So we kind of merged that in and then we bought another company called hellotech and kind of put this whole thing together and we're trying to build a new way of doing property management and we're rebranding the company todoor and door.com. you know, I do love a four letter domain name. And so the process for like the last year of kind of turning something around. And it's really, you know, a lot of ways with these callers, you know, thinking about it, like, I'm kind of back with them in a lot of ways, you know.
A
You're back in square one. Yeah.
B
Yeah.
A
That's so cool. All right, well, let's, let's. Let's bring in our first caller, Jamie, and see. See if we can help them out.
B
Yo.
A
Hello, caller.
C
Hi, guy. Hi, Jamie. Thank you for having me on.
A
Hello. Hello. Please tell us your name. Tell us where you're calling from and a little bit about your business.
C
My name is Victor Hugo Hernandez, or as my friends and family like to call me, Vico. I am calling in from Orange County.
A
California, and tell me a little bit about your business.
C
I am the inventor of the Ergo Flex desk, a smart desk that's about to launch into the market later this year.
A
Got it. Okay, we're going to ask you about this in a moment. And what's your question that you brought for us today, Victor?
C
Well, my question is, since we're looking to launch in a couple months here, we are looking to launch a Kickstarter campaign, a crowdfunding campaign, and we'd like to get some insight on how to best prepare and complete a successful campaign.
A
Cool. All right, well, you're in the right place, Victor. Let's start with a little bit about what you're creating. So these are ergonomic desks. I'm assuming this is, like, what you mean by that is these are like standing desks or sitting desks, or they're designed to make sure your posture is right and you're not going to get carpal tunnel syndrome and all that stuff.
C
Yes, exactly. It's actually a sit and stand desk that I recently got a patent for late last year for its tilt capabilities. So in addition to sit and stand, it tilts up to 70 degrees.
A
Oh, nice.
C
Originally for my. My purpose was for it to turn into an artist easel. And now everything's motorized, controlled through an app. And soon you'll be able to control it through voice command.
A
Oh, wow.
C
For people.
A
Oh, so you can control it through an app. So it's all electronic. And how did you. Are you an artist? Like, tell me how you came up with this whole thing.
C
My background was visual arts. I studied in Cal Poly Humboldt. And mainly my focus was sculpture, graphic design. And I started my career up there doing that kind of work. And I wanted to get a desk. And the sit and stand desk had just come onto the market, so I Went to purchase one, but I couldn't find anything that was really suiting to what I was needing. So I decided to create my own desk. And you know, that has been a seven year journey now.
A
Wow.
C
From a very, you know, hands on mobile desk unit to a now pretty much a robot desk that can sit, stand, tilt. And then I also added omnidirectional ground movement powered wheels at the bottom so that the desk can be driven kind of like an RC car. It's all connected through WI fi, but.
B
It doesn't do the work for you.
A
It doesn't do the work for you. You still have to do the work, Jamie.
B
Still have to do the work. Okay. I just want to make sure. I don't know where the autonomy stops. I just wanted to make sure.
A
Yeah, you still got it. But wow. It's like the coolest remote control car. Can I ask you a question, Victor, about who do you imagine using this desk? Artists, draftspeople, or just anybody in an office?
B
Yeah.
C
So, I mean, because it tilts up to 70 degrees, it could really be used for pretty much most applications. So like a drafter for architecture is about 35 to 40 degrees. And then just for your ergonomics as far as your shoulders and your neck and strains. Right. And also for people with disabilities. I have somebody in our family who has a disability and that's something that is important to me to be able to serve that underserved community. And so I soon realized that this actually would benefit a lot of people and increase their creativity as well.
B
So to your question of the presale Kickstarter, what's worrying me right now is that you have a lot of customers, but fringe on each one. Like, I'm a stand up. I mean, I'm standing now. I don't actually even own a chair in any office that I have.
A
You don't own a chair in any of your offices?
B
I don't.
A
Good for you.
B
And I could buy one. I mean, I just want to, like, just so you know, I mean, I could.
A
If you need me to send you one, Jamie, let me know.
B
I appreciate it, but I. So I'm a. So I'm a standing person. But the tilt for me wouldn't help me. Like, like the way I work, what I'm doing, like that wouldn't be like, I'm not doing artist things. And so I think on each one of these categories you're like in sort of a piece. And so the thing about Kickstarter is you need to get like, obviously groups into it. So how do you find. What are the other, like, top three somewhat niche small communities that you could enter into to get to sort of buy this? That's how I'd be looking at it. You know, because niches can be still big, it doesn't mean they're small. Yeah, but how do I find them? Like, how do find this person that.
A
Wants this, like an architect or even like a nurse in, like a hospital? Right. Like, you're talking about specific types of people, Jamie. Right?
B
Yeah.
A
Yeah.
C
My goal to that effect was I'm going to try to partner up with about five different influencers in different spaces. Right. That have a good following. One in the ergonomics field, one in the gaming, one in the cultural celebrity field, one of the visual artists, and we will design a custom unit for them, and then one will go off to the raffle for the crowdfunding campaign so that any follower of theirs can have a minimum donation of $1, $5 and then be submitted to the raffle.
A
Got it. Okay. And tell me how you. And do you have a prototype, a working prototype?
C
Yes, actually, it's consumer ready. So it. Actually, my engineer, I flew him out from the Philippines, we pretty much put the final touches on all the sensors, all the safety. It has collision detection. So if it was to collide with anything on any motors, everything stops. I'm about to meet with him really soon and we're about to get the code to do the voice control. You'll be able to tell it to go to a certain height, tilt to a certain angle, maybe rotate certain degrees. And then later down the line, the AI camera also will be available for you to be able to say, hey, desk, come over here. And so, you know, I think that really, for people with disabilities, that's going to be a really huge benefit if somebody's bedridden or, you know, in a wheelchair.
A
Yeah. Like, hey, desk, bring me my lunch. Or I could be like, but if I said, hey, desk, can you go run Jamie over? It wouldn't do that.
C
It'll collide. It'll stop. Well, actually, it'll stop. It'll be like, oh, there it is.
B
It might do it if ask it to.
A
I'm going to override that. Hey, desk, go bug Jamie. Just go bump him.
B
I mean, and again, this is where, like, it's, It's. There's a lot there. And it's like, as you talk, it's like a little all over the place, though. I think it, like, for example, if you maybe just focused on people that are, in some ways, don't have the capability to move around. Like, they might be able to access insurance to buy the desk.
A
Yeah.
B
And so I think there's, like, interesting things. It's just the one thing I worry about when I hear something, does everything, is that it's hard to sell it. And it's like, even in my new business, I have that problem of trying to boil things down to focus it. And it's very hard to do that because a lot of things can do a lot of things, but it's really the magic a lot of times comes from focusing it.
A
Well, right now, Victor's got one issue on his plate, right. Which is Kickstarter. You want to launch this on Kickstarter? Jamie, you didn't launch Ring on Kickstarter, but you did a crowdfunding campaign.
B
Yep.
A
And so Victor's trying to figure out, like, what. What should he do? Right. And so, like, the obvious things are make a video. And I know you've got a video on your website that I'm looking at right now, but you got to make a better video. And how do you, like, how does he get attention for this thing? How does he get people like, psych to be like, I want that thing?
B
I mean, it's like, feels so tiktoky of, like, the driving to someone who has a disability or, like, you know, sort of from the emotional side of TikTok to the fun side. That's a great point of doing things. Like, it feels like there's just so many little bites that you could have at that. That could go viral.
A
Yeah. I mean, I can imagine a video where you've got, like. You've got, like, a couple people just, like, carrying this really heavy desk from one part of a room to another. And then you come out and like, why do you have a heavy desk in one spot? Like, the future is a desk that moves for you and that. That you can stand and sit. Something like that. You know, I keep. I've. I've referred to this several times on the advice line, which is Liquid Death. And, Jamie, I know you probably know this story, but, you know, Mike Cesario didn't have a big budget when he launched that brand. He spent fifteen hundred dollars making a viral video that went truly went viral. I mean, you may have seen it. It's like the last scene is somebody just kind of. It's kind of crazy, but he did this. Somebody being waterboarded with Liquid death. Right. Like, he was really playing into the absurd. But you can imagine, like, With a small budget and a couple of iPhones making a really funny video that also shows the functionality. Like, to me, that's. That's where you got to start.
B
I totally agree. Dollar shave Club, Liquid Death, some of those, like, they've just like amazing. As I sit here and drink liquid death right now. And so I do think it's like, it doesn't have to be outlandish. Like outlandish could be in your own way. It doesn't have to just be crazy. It can also be very emotional and I think like, you know, depending. You sound like someone also has like, like grounded in some things that like, are more emotional about what you built. And I think if you can try to get that out, that can also be as viral as, you know, waterboarding someone with a can of water, which is pretty hysterical, I think.
A
Yeah. I wonder, Jamie, is there a. Not a risk, but like, given that, that Victor's trying to create a mass appeal product, like if initially he's on folks with disabilities, which obviously this is designed to also appeal to, would it send a signal that this is specifically for folks who have limited mobility or rather than anyone, like just anyone who wants a standing sitting desk.
B
I think for sure what you might want to do is break the brands up. Like you might want to have a gaming one that's a little bit set up differently under a different brand. It could be like something like Gamer Extreme Desk Buy, Veeqo and then it's like Healthcare Desk by Veo. It could be like kind of buy or you could do something to sort of do that, but it doesn't sort of translate over to something else.
C
Yeah, no, that is great advice. That's kind of where I've been working on straddling. I mean, I have my business plan and I know that we can benefit a lot of different sectors. But yes, it's all about how to tailor the message for each sector and not muddy up the waters.
B
I'm hoping that there's one that's big enough to be a business, because if you have to do multiple to be a business, I really worry that you're going to have trouble being a business. So hopefully one of those. I don't know how big disability is in general, but it might actually be that just that alone is so big. It might be that that's a business and then you can do gaming off of that and all these other things. Especially as you get your costs down and your manufacturing better and all the other sort of pieces solved.
A
Yeah. I also see it as like, you will discover this over time. Once you put this out into the world, you'll start to see where you're getting traction and who's interested in the product. And that's. That often helps people figure out where their market is. You know, like they might have been targeting a completely different market only to discover that, like, this group of people uses it this way and that, you know, your consumers, they kind of show you the way.
B
And that's what's just so awesome about pre sale in general and Kickstarter is that you're truly. You're not surveying. You're getting like, money votes. And when people vote with their dollars, it's very different than when they're voting with, like a survey.
A
All right, well, and when do you hope to launch it?
C
Hopefully in a couple months.
B
Yes.
C
So hopefully it'll be live around September so that the, you know, holiday season can be a great start for everybody.
A
Cool. The company's called Ergo Flexdesk. Victor Hernandez, thanks. Good luck, man.
B
Good luck, Fiko.
C
Thank you so much, you guys. I really appreciate you guys and you guys are an inspiration. You know how I built this. And Jamie, thank you so much for everything, my friend.
B
Awesome. Thanks, Vico.
C
Take care.
A
Thank you. Jamie, you must have had had remote control cars like the frog and Frog everything.
B
Mrc, Tamiya, was it like. Yeah, yeah.
A
Those were so sweet. Remember how fast.
B
That's really what taught me engineering.
A
Yeah, I bet. I remember you talking about that.
B
That's right. We talked about electric. Electric everything.
A
Yeah, we talked about the frog. I remember. But I can hear that like on my. On my street where I grew up in the San Fernando Valley, that going down the right music to my ears. Yeah. Oh, my God, it was so sweet. They went so fast and then they would crash and break and you'd have to, like, fix it.
B
That was the best part is like when they broke, you had to like, fix it and, you know, you learned.
A
I kind of now, I mean, I don't think the Ergo desk is going to do that. Like to go that.
B
I don't know.
A
But I mean, right.
B
I mean, as Viko was talking, I mean, it's going to. It's going to like, go get food for you, bring it back. I mean, it's. It's like a. I know. Doordasher.
A
It's like your own doordash robot.
B
Yeah.
A
All right, Jamie, we're going to take a quick break, but when we come back, luxury Nigerian chocolate. That will spice up any dinner party, guaranteed. That's after the break. Stay with us. I'm Guy Raz and you're listening to the advice line right here on How I Built this Lab. Listening on Audible helps your imagination soar. Whether you listen to stories, motivation, expert advice, any genre you love, you can be inspired to imagine new worlds, new possibilities, new ways of thinking. Audible has an incredible selection with over 1 million audiobooks, podcasts, and Audible originals all in one easy app. Find the genres you love and discover new ones. Explore bestsellers and new releases, plus thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and originals that members can listen to all they want, with more added all the time. Enjoy Audible anytime while you're doing other things household chores, exercising while you're on the road, or commuting, you name it. Audible makes it easy to be inspired and entertained as part of your everyday routine without needing to set aside extra time. There's more to imagine when you listen. Sign up for a free 30 day Audible trial and your first audiobook is free. Visit audible.combilt do you ever feel overwhelmed by how many options there are these days? Whether you're on vacation and trying to see all the sights or you're at a restaurant with a huge menu, finding something that's just right can sometimes feel impossible. The same applies if you're a business owner who's hiring. It can be overwhelming to have too many candidates to sort through, but you're in luck. ZipRecruiter now gives you the power to proactively find and connect with the best ones quickly. How? Through their innovative resume database. And right now you can try it for free@ziprecruiter.com Bilt ZipRecruiter's resume database uses advanced filtering to quickly show you the best candidates for your roles. And if you see a candidate you're really interested in, you can get their contact info instantly. Skip the candidate overload. Instead, streamline your hiring with ZipRecruiter. See why four out of five employers who post on ZipRecruiter get a quality candidate within the first day? Just go to this exclusive web address ziprecruiter.combilt right now to try it for free again, that's ZipRecruiter.com built ZipRecruiter the smartest way to hire.
B
Oh hey, hey.
D
Thanks for meeting me here on such short notice.
A
This place isn't bugged, is it? Bugged? Wait, Jamie, what's going on?
D
It's just you're my only lawyer friend.
E
And I need your professional opinion.
D
Do you see that brand new Hyundai Tucson out there.
A
Yeah, that's all I paid for it. Ah, I think I need to get back to you on that.
E
Do you know what you want?
B
Yeah, I do now. Deal.
A
So right, it almost feels wrong.
B
Get the car or SUV you've always.
A
Wanted, plus America's best warranty at the Hyundai getaway sales event. The guilt is real, but so is the savings.
E
Listen, I don't want to get in.
A
Your business, but if that's all she paid for it, I'll have what she's having.
B
It's a great day for a new.
A
Hyundai at the Hyundai getaway sales event going on now.
B
Get 0% APR for 60 months plus 0 payments for 90 days, days on all Hyundai Palisade, Santa Fe and Santa Fe hybrid models. And check out our other great deals at your Hyundai dealer today. Offer end September 2nd. Call 562-314-4603 for details.
A
Welcome back to the advice line on how I built this lab. I'm Guy Raz, and my guest today is Ring founder Jamie Siminoff. And so, Jamie, let's bring in our next caller.
E
Hi, Jamie.
A
Hi, Guy.
E
I'm so excited to talk to you both.
B
How's it going?
A
Welcome. Please tell us your name, where you're calling from, and a little bit about your business.
E
Yeah, absolutely. So my name is ikenlabioladimeji. Everyone calls me Ian. I'm calling from Baltimore, Maryland, and I'm the founder of Lu G's Chocolate. So we sell delicious chocolate bars made with unique West African ingredients. And for every bar we sell, we actually give back a cocoa tree seed link back to a farmer where we source our cocoa from.
A
Amazing. Okay, and what's, what's your question for us today?
E
I'd love our bars to be more accessible, but as a bootstrap company, we're priced a little bit higher than I would like right now. So how should we think about our pricing strategy to remain affordable to our customers without compromising our commitment to quality and ethical sourcing and also ensure, like, the financial health of our business in the short and long term?
A
All right, we'll get to your question a moment. I've got a bunch of questions Jamie does, I'm sure, as well. Let's start with your product. This is chocolate made and sourced in specifically in West Africa, but in a specific country.
E
Or it's specifically in Nigeria. Exactly. So we sell chocolate bars that are made in Nigeria.
A
Nigeria. Okay. And most of the world's chocolate comes from Ivory coast and Nigeria and these countries right in West Africa. And I guess what you discovered that not a whole lot of it is actually made there, just that the raw materials are shipped and then it's made in Europe or in the US or in South America or in Asia.
E
Exactly, yeah. So like in 2019, when I lived in Ghana, I basically found out that over 70% of cocoa is grown in West Africa, but less than 1% of chocolate is actually manufactured. There's. And basically once I learned that stat, I knew I wanted to be part of changing it. And that's why I started Lucci's Chocolate.
B
I'd actually love to. Yeah. Like why? So it's produced there, but it's not made there in terms of like the actual finished product. Why does that matter?
E
So basically most of the chocolate you find on your grocery shelves today are not made there. Typically they buy the cocoa from like Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, then they ship it to the US or Europe and that's where they actually produce the chocolate. So what that means is, as you can imagine, most of the value addition, the money, the resources don't actually stay within that community. And then also a lot of them follow like a very typical and formulaic manufacturing process. Unfortunately, they're like a ton of middlemen between the farmers and the end users. A lot of them also have really negative and unethical sourcing practices. And then something that's really important to most customers is like most of the chocolate we see on the shelves, they're like really boring. They use the same ingredients. But I think some people are also a lot of chocolate lovers are really into unique inclusions that maybe could be local to the region where we're actually sourcing from.
B
But the big thing is that by making it there that instead of them being commodity farmers that are just getting bought by pound by some middleman distributor now they actually can be part of the value that's created in chocolate and that's meaningful to them and their communities.
E
That's meaningful to them and their communities as well as the person buying the chocolate. Because essentially your purchase is making an impact where you bought it. And then the actual what we like, our bestseller, we have a ginger with plantain chips flavor chocolate bar and we also have a spicy suya. Suya is a West African blend. So what you're actually buying is like a different type of chocolate as well.
A
So what's your background, what do you do and what have you been doing for most of your career? And is this your full time gig right now?
E
So as far as educational background, I studied chemical engineering, but I've never worked as a chemical engineer. I hated it. And I've always worked in technology. So right now I work in a low code SaaS company as a product expert. And right now it's. I mean, it's not my full time gig, but however, it's my second job. I don't think of it as a side hustle because I feel like I work two jobs right now.
A
Okay. So I'm looking at the website and I love your colors. I love the design scheme. I think that's super cool.
E
Thank you.
A
One interesting thing is, and I just learned about this recently, one of the top selling chocolate brands in Europe is Tony's Chocolone Chocolate. Okay. And this is a relatively new brand and it's a brand that was started by basically the story is it was started by an ex journalist who discovered like the how chocolate farmers are exploited. And he wanted to create a more ethical chocolate brand. But from what I've learned, that isn't why the brand has been so successful. The story, you can see the story on the back of the bar. But I would go out on a limb and say most people aren't reading it. The. And the reason why the brand is successful is because it tastes really good and it looks like a cartoony chocolate. Like it's got this cartoony logo on the front. And it's sold in the US as well and around the world. And I think that while there's no question there is a segment of the consumer market that is going to be interested in supporting what you do, I think your biggest value proposition is ginger Plantain crunch is like these really interesting, unique flavors. I don't know. Jamie, what do you think about that?
B
It's a balance. Good friends of mine started bowl and Branch, Missy and Scott Tannen, and they sort of had a similar thing to you, which is like they found out about cotton and that cotton, the way it's grown and this sort of how it affects communities in the places it's grown in India. And so they did a good job early on of doing that. But Guy, to your point, I think people buy Bullen branch sheets because they're great sheets.
A
I didn't even know that story. That's right. I just knew that they make good.
B
Sheets, but that was what was behind it. And I do like, I think there's something about authenticity behind a brand that matters. And so I love that. It's not like you're just not trying to build like XYZ Chocolate, but I do. Yeah. I think with Guy I think you're right. I think the consumer sadly, like, maybe it's not sadly, but you're right. They're gonna like a interesting flavor of something, and that's probably gonna trump any sort of story, which helps, but maybe I think you're right.
E
No, I 100% understand what you're saying, and I actually could. I think as far as, like, my messaging initially, it was like, because of the reason I started it, it leaned a lot heavier on the impact aspect. But I've learned and it's starting to pivot more into, like, our, like, our flavor profile. But I think what's challenging with that sometimes, and it feels like I'm competing on the same thing that any chocolate would be talking about. So sometimes it's challenging for me to see how to balance that.
B
Yeah. And I'm just. I'm trying to, like, it is a. It is. That's the balance. And I try to look at some others, like Bolan Branch, that have done this and just see how they've balanced it. It sounds like Tony Ciaccolone. It sounds like they've done a good job at that. You know, by the liquid death, which we like. One of these ones that he continue to talk about, that was death to plastic. Like, he cared about killing plastic in plastic water bottles. But I would say 1% of people.
E
Know that I didn't know that.
B
So I built a huge brand. But I think, again, authenticity actually breeds something. There's something about having true authenticity that when you go into these brands, like, at ring, we cared about making neighborhoods safer. I'm not sure if everyone who bought a ring knew that, but we really cared about that. Like, that was something that was super ingrained in what we did. And so I think there's something still about, like, having, like, hold on to that. Don't just. Because if it's just the ginger whatever sell, like, if it's the flavors you figure out that are selling, like, I think still holding onto that is important. Your question, though, was around the pricing and accessibility, and that then concerned me because it's like you're trying to, like, on one hand you're saying, like, doing all these premium things to help these communities. And on the other hand, you're like, I want to be the cheapest chocolate in the world. And it's like. It's like these things are just, like, feel like they're just so distant. Yeah.
E
And I think you're bringing up the fighting thought process that I go through, essentially. I definitely don't want to be the cheapest, primarily, we've been selling online. And then more recently, we just got into like our first small retail store and we just started actually trying to get into more stores. And I think as I've started that process, I'm starting to think through our pricing strategy.
B
Where are you? Like, if Hershey's is. I don't even know, like, whatever. Where. Where are you?
E
Yeah, so look, let's say Hershey's is like $2. The Tony's Chocolaty that guy mentioned is maybe $5, and we're at $10.50 per bar. There's like a craft chocolate space where there are. There are. Yeah, exactly. So there. There's a lot that are in that space. But I think my goal in starting this was to make this more accessible to people. So I'm struggling to figure out. I'll have to think about that.
A
I think I'll get to the price issue question in just a sec. But I think that because it's a premium product, I feel like you need to. And you can elevate that a bit more. Right? Because I see you've got a video on your website, but I think there are a couple of things that I want to see. I want to see the factory. I want to see where it's made. I want to see somebody pouring the liquid chocolate into the molds. And because premium chocolate, people are willing to pay for it, it's like wine. Right. And I think you can just show us that a little bit more people really, once they can see what you're paying for. It's handcrafted, it's made from the best quality. Like, we pick, you know, we roast, we have the best farmers. It's. This is different kind of chocolate that you're consuming.
E
Yeah, that makes sense. That video was when we shot. We've talked about Kickstarter a little bit, but it was part of our Kickstarter campaign when we launched, so I think it's due for an upgrade for sure.
B
Now, again, if you're too far outside of the premium side, like even, you know, there are price points you can fall out of. But it sounds like Tony's Chocolone might have figured out that balance between Hershey's and sort of like they might be in that high volume but higher margin. Like they figured out kind of that perfect.
A
And it took them some time, but yeah, they did. Right. They're in that sort of mid level price point and you're not like, I just made chocolate chip cookies for friends recently and I bought A really great chocolate and cut it up, you know, and, like, this is what you're selling. You're selling, like, the kind of chocolate you'd serve at a dinner party after dinner with a glass of wine, maybe, or, you know, like, have. Right. Like, this is something that you would really savor. And I think that there's something to this idea that you could. You could put on your label, like, you know, the finest cocoa beans, the best roasters, the most premium ingredients. Luji, something like that, where it's just bam, bam, bam, bam. It just pops off the shelves if it's at Whole Foods.
E
Yeah. I think what I'm hearing from what you're both saying is, like, we are a premium product, and it is definitely differentiated in the categories. The one I was thinking about was, like, I know long. In the long run, we probably want to get closer to, like, Tony Chocolone type of pricing. So should I lower that price now, or is it. What seemed more sustainable is, like, you start high, and then as you increase the volume, then I'll be able to, like, lower it.
B
I'll be a super hypocrite, you know, because it's like, that's what I did with Ring. I mean, when we came out with it, we were making them for more than we were selling them for. I just, you know, some. In some ways, we priced it to what we knew the market would like the max the market would sustain, but still buy it knowing also that we had to get to volume. Like that. The price we were paying for each one when we started was way more than if we got to volume. And you're not going to get to volume if you just overcharge or charge, you know, kind of cost plus.
A
Right.
B
And so we had to kind of take that leap of faith that we would be able to raise enough money, sell enough to get the cost lower, to then get the margin in line to get the volume. And we played that game. It's a kind of a bit of a game of chicken. And it worked. But I also could see where that price was going. So I'd also say to you, how far out can you see?
E
I see.
B
If you 10x sales, does pricing really come down that much with chips and all this stuff? I could actually literally, like, they gave me the thing like, if you buy 10,000, it's this. If you buy a hundred thousand, it's this. I could like on an Excel sheet, show exactly what it was going to be. So at least I wasn't doing it, like, just completely willy Nilly. So if you can see that, maybe then you do want to do that. But I'd make sure that it's actually going to come down and that you're not actually going to, you know, sort of to your mission. You're not going to then compress the worker to get the price down. Because you try, you know, it's like almost like, you know, in the end it would be like this weird, ironic ending.
E
Yeah.
A
Yeah. I would take a page out of lvmh. I was just. I was. I just had the opportunity to go to Paris to see a bit of the Olympics and it was amazing. And one of the things you're reminded of when you're in Paris is LVMH Controls owns Paris and really Europe in many ways. And what's amazing about LVMH is their margins are, I think, are so high because it's brand, it's aspiration they're selling. Right. But it's also quality. I mean, Gucci or Hermes, these are all high end products. You know, they're well made, but you're also paying for the brand. You will get to the brand side, but I think you want to really present this as a really premium product. Start there. It's this thing that is made all in the same place. It's a really high end luxury product and I think it's worth trying that. Yeah, yeah. The brand is called Luigi's Chocolate. Ian, thank you so much for calling in. Good luck.
E
Thank you both so much. I feel so inspired. Have a good one.
A
All right.
B
Good luck.
A
Cool. Yeah, I could chop some of that up and put them in my cookies.
B
I was actually thinking, I'm like, do I get paid for the advice line? Could I get some chocolate maybe?
A
You know what? Next time you come up here, I'm gonna get some of Luigi's Chocolate and I'll make you cookies. I just made ice cream sandwiches. I made ice cream and cookies, put them together, wrapped them for a little party I'm throwing.
B
Yeah, I love ice cream sandwiches.
A
I know, man. They're good. All right, we're gonna take another quick break, but when we come back, inspirational posters created for teachers by a teacher. I'm Guy Raz. And hopefully we've got the answers here on the advice line. Stick around. You're listening to how I built this lab.
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A
Hey, welcome back to the advice line on how I built this lab. I'm Guy Raz, and today I'm taking calls with Jamie Siminoff. He's the founder of Ring, which is perhaps most famous for its video doorbell. Jamie, what do you say? Let's bring in our last caller.
D
Hello, Guy. Hello, Jamie.
B
Hi.
A
Hello. Hello. Tell us, please introduce yourself, tell us your name, where you're calling from, and a little bit about your business.
D
I'm Francesca Thompson from Atlanta, Georgia, the founder of Thrive 12. It is an educational resource company designed to support teachers with cool tools and products to use in their classroom. And we're laser focused on diversity because we understand that every student matters.
A
Awesome. And what's your, what's your question for us today?
D
So I am at the point where I'm transitioning from my teacher pay teacher site to actual storefront on Amazon. And I want to know at this stage, should I be focused on the different certifications that you can get, like women's own small business certifications, minority women's business certification? Because with Amazon, they actually do have some support for minority businesses. But I'm not sure if I need to do that right now.
A
All right, we'll get your question a moment. Let me ask you first a bit about the business. So if I understand it correctly, you make posters, like for classrooms that are like inspirational posters, sort of, right?
D
Correct. They're very inclusive. They look like students that I teach. My black and brown students. I have.
A
You're a teacher?
D
Yes, I am.
A
You're a teacher in Atlanta?
D
Yeah. Well, I'M in Gwinnett county schools. It's the largest school district in Georg.
E
Oh, cool.
A
What do you teach?
D
So I was teaching entrepreneurship.
A
Oh, awesome. Nice.
D
But now I'm more of a career coach, and I help the teachers with developing their classes.
A
Got it. Okay. And these posters right now are digital only. Like, you buy it and then you down. Like, I'm clicking on one, it says, like, I chat, I tweet, I post, I study. It's two bucks. You've got another one. It's a woman on the poster, says, lead, serve, Excel, and it's 2 bucks. And so you download it, and then you are responsible for printing it and putting it up.
D
Yes.
A
Okay.
D
And so I want to have physical posters now that I can ship directly to teachers in school districts.
A
Cool. All right, we'll get to your question. A moment. Jamie, I'm sure you've got some questions for Francesca.
B
I guess. Is there a. I mean, I'm not a teacher. So, like, what would be the market for this? Are teachers always looking for these things or how are they looking?
D
So we have our classrooms, and every year. Year during the summertime when we come back, like, right now, we're always looking for products to decorate our classrooms.
A
Yeah.
D
And so a lot of school districts give you a little small budget to use to buy products for your classes, and then a lot of teachers actually have to fund that stuff their self. But we're always looking for things to change our classroom space. Definitely things for the holidays as well. We're always. Teachers just love to decorate.
A
And the idea here is really to, like, to inspire kids with these posters. And, I mean, they're different kinds of people, right? It's different kinds of kids. Like, some kids will see these posters, and it just won't resonate. But have you had the experience where kids will see a poster like this and something will just click in their head? Like, yeah, I'm gonna. Like, I'm looking at a poster. It says, trust your ability, and it's a disabled man kicking a soccer ball. Like, have you seen kids just, like. I don't know, just respond to these things in ways that surprised you?
D
Yes. One of the posters, if you see, is of a African American student with a drone. And that's probably been one of my most popular ones, because one the kids look at the poster and they see him, and then they're like, what is that? You know, it just is something that inspires them to look into that product and see if they can learn how to use and fly drones as well, so that one always gets the attention of our students.
A
And you design all these posters yourself?
E
Yes, I do.
A
All right, the price point is really low. Right. I mean they're like two, three dollars. So you're gonna have to do a lot of volume to build a sustainable business. But I imagine you have a different plan in the future. I'd be curious to hear what your vision is because you're an entrepreneurship teacher, so you've got. I know you've got a five year plan. Tell me, tell us about it.
D
So it's that low because I'm saying that the price point of, of most products that are on teacher pay teacher sites because they are downloading it and they're responsible for it. But once I move to my storefront, Amazon storefront, it is going to definitely. I can see those posters ranging anywhere from 15 to $19. And then hopefully eventually I'll roll out our games as well.
A
And, and do you see this long term only for schools or do you see this as a, you know, for like non profits or for businesses and you know, like remember successories? Like back in the day that was like the og you'd go into like a warehouse and it would be like teamwork and there'd be like a giant soaring eagle and it would say, you know, like strength or something. Right. And that was a thing. And some offices still have that. I mean, are you, do you see this kind of product as something like that?
D
Well, I mean, you know, I was only thinking schools, but now that you've said that, I think that is definitely a great idea. Because I'm thinking all the school districts in the United States and just all the teachers, that would definitely benefit. But like you said, different companies could definitely benefit from the product as well.
B
I mean even just like people buying it for their kids rooms.
D
You're right. That's good. Really good idea.
B
That's why like, as I'm thinking about it, it is an interesting, like, I kind of love it. The drone like one, like, just like I love how that resonates.
D
Yeah.
B
Because I do think there's things that kids don't realize they can do. And if you can just. It's like sparks, like sparks. You just got to spark them in the right direction now because with the Internet and everything else, like you can find your way. It's just, but you need that, that, that ignition point.
D
Yeah. And when I think about like some of my students, like some of my students with disabilities, just to see something like that on the wall that represents them and they never have seen anything like that. That just makes them, you know, feel really good about themselves. And if I'm not mistaken, I think Barbie just launched Barbie with down sympathetic syndrome.
A
I saw that. Yeah. So cool. Yeah. Yeah.
D
So it's things like that that we kind of take for granted. We don't realize that these things are really needed and that it really will help a student out.
B
As you start to do this more and increase the price, I also wonder if you can find people that have made it, whether it's an engineer at Amazon or someone and make them the poster.
A
Oh yeah.
B
You know, it gives it a little bit more, I don't wanna say authenticity, but there's something about it that like a little paragraph on the bottom.
A
A real person. Yeah.
B
Like this is Dr. Blah, blah, blah. Who and is an engineer this and now is this.
D
I love it.
A
To your question, Francesca, about so your question is like, should I gain access to certifications like the women owned small business certification or minority business cert? First of all, how, how much work is it to get a certification? Is it something that takes months? Is it a lot of paperwork?
D
So there is some paperwork involved. And the biggest thing is that some of these certifications, they're fees. And right, right now, with me being at this early stage and trying to, you see, you saw my products are 2 and 3 and 4 and $5 right now. So I'm trying to see if it's something I should fit in right now or can that be something I can look at later and then add on. I just don't know if I want everything to be perfect when we finally launch our store. But is it something that I need to do right now?
A
I mean, I have a thought about this and I'd be curious to hear your take, Jamie, which is we are living at a moment in time where just getting attention for anything is so much harder because it's an information tsunami. Right? Like, and we hear this on the show all the time. Ten years ago, if you launched through influencers on Instagram, you could get a lot of traction. 15 years ago if you bought ad search on Google, you could really scale a business. Today, it's so much harder to convert customers through social media. We're hearing that so much, Jamie, you may have experienced it even a ring at the time when you were still there. It's just harder to break through. And so my first response when you ask should I be certified? Is if this is going to give you some advantage, if this is going to position your business in a way that otherwise you might not get that kind of exposure. My answer is, yeah, absolutely. But of course, the calculation is, is it, you know, is it going to take a lot of time? Is it going to be really expensive? Or is it something that is, you know, modestly affordable? Like maybe it might cost a few hundred bucks and it might take you a week. Then I would say, yeah, absolutely. Like, if Amazon is a program that they're going to say, yeah, we're going to put this out in front of more people, or other platforms are going to say, hey, you know, Francesca's business qualifies under this program we're doing, I would say go for it. Jamie, what do you think?
B
I think it's exactly right. I think just be very tactical about it in terms of like, if it's going to return $1,000 and it costs 100 dol. It's going to return 100 and it costs a thousand. It's not worth it, I think right now in your business.
D
Okay.
B
Because I think you're like, listen, you're authentic, the product's authentic. It's like all of these things are there. So unless there's something that's going to give you the return, I don't think a certification. I don't think the teacher looking at your products is going to say, wait a second, is this certified? Yeah, but at the same time, if Amazon's going to give you more advertising dollars or, or some access to something and they do, you know, I've seen those programs. It's great. Take advantage of it. They're there for a reason. I love it. Like, use them all, all you can.
D
Yeah, they help you with, with Amazon, it's like customer engagement. They help you with the virtual bundling and things like that if you get these certifications.
B
So I just would look at like, again, cost to the return of that because it's not unlimited return, but there is. Those are pretty big advantages on Amazon.
A
Also, as you know, as you know, being a teacher, trying to sell into school districts is almost impossible. Trying to sell anything to school districts. But there might be an opportunity. Right. You never know. So it seems to me. By the way, do you know how much it costs to get certified? One of these certifications, one I was.
D
Looking at was around 300 bucks to file the paperwork.
A
That seems worth the time and the price.
B
Yeah, that's probably worth it.
A
Yeah, I would definitely, I would definitely look into that. Yeah.
B
Guy was saying it's harder to break through, and I think it's always hard in the moment to break through. I think it's easy when we look back, we see what was breaking through. But I think what it, what definitely happens is it changes how to break through.
A
Yes.
B
So it goes from Google, Adwords, the influencers, to Facebook to Instagram, to Twitter, TikTok to whatever. And I think being aggressive and trying to find those things, I'd also look at with Amazon. There's a program with Shopify where you can tie that into your Amazon. So you could have sort of a bit of a standalone site as well, but have Amazon as the backend. So I would also look into how you could do that again. You have such a rich media content product that you're going to want to be able to really display it and show it it, change it out. And then I bet you there's so many people that would love to be on a poster that have made it.
A
Yes.
B
You know that that would represent all these different areas you're talking about. And then kind of even them posting it and putting their poster out. Like, I think they'd be so proud of that. And so that might be a way of also just creating this sort of like what a great flywheel to create.
A
I would also start with like, I'd start locally. Right. You're in Atlanta. Just think about some cool. I mean, I just talking about representation. I mean, Topo Watana started Calendly. He was on our show a couple years ago. You know, born in Nigeria and is now running a billion dollar company. Like, how about a poster of a guy like that? And it just says, you know, tech entrepreneur. Or, you know, I would just start locally and just contact people, go to LinkedIn and just find people in the Atlanta area.
B
Arthur Blank from Home Depot.
A
Arthur Blank from Home Depot. So I think there's some cool opportunities just starting locally. See if you can maybe partner with somebody, some folks who would be willing to be put on an inspirational poster.
D
I would love it.
A
Cool. Francesca Thompson. The brand's called Thrive 12. Good luck. Thank you so much for calling in.
B
Good luck, Francesca.
D
Thank you.
A
I'm gonna get a poster that says with your picture on it, Jamie. And it just says, see, even you can make it. If this guy made it, you're gonna be fine.
B
So you know what's crazy is on like TikTok and Instagram on the reels, people keep cutting up my shark tank and then putting like the story like in like in a reel, it's over like a hundred million views, like way over 100. Oh, it's crazy. And it's just this, like, you know, got denied, then did this, then did this, and then, like, sold for a billion dollars. Now, it usually says that I'm a billionaire, which is when you sell your company for a billion dollars, you actually.
A
Don'T get all of it.
B
So. But I appreciate that.
A
That's fine.
B
Yeah. I mean, like, listen, I appreciate it. It's nice.
A
But then everyone's like, hey, Jamie, can I get, like, 10 bucks?
B
Yeah. That's the downside of it.
A
Jamie, before I let you go, I'd be curious, like, now that you have, of course, started, scaled, and exited the business that you built, if you could, like, go back in time to you and the garage. You know, I remember you telling the story about your wife, and she was kind of, you know, she was funding, she was paying the bills. Like, she had a job, and you were struggling, and you were kind of really flailing and nervous, and she was like, let's take a mortgage out on our home and all this stuff. I remember you told me a story, man, you cried.
B
I do. Every time I think about that one. Yeah.
A
Yeah. What would you have told yourself, aside from like, hey, it's going to be okay. What advice would you. You've given to Jamie Siminoff before anybody knew that his product would be successful.
B
I mean, sadly, it's not advice, because you don't know. But if I really knew. Yeah. I think. Just saying, just keep your head down. It's gonna be okay. I think that's the hardest part of entrepreneurship, is you don't know it's gonna be okay because it might not be. And that's also why it's good to work on products that you care about, because at least then you spend some time on something that matters. But. But even now, I'm back in a new business, and I Very positive, and I'm excited and I'm working hard, but we don't know where these things are going to go and how big they can get and what impact they can have. And I think that's the hardest part, is that you're kind of driving through a dark tunnel as an entrepreneur, and sometimes you see a glimmer of light, but it's rare to see the full light until you're very far down that tunnel, and you don't know how long the tunnel is. It could be one year. It could be seven years. It could be 30 years. It could be infinite.
A
Yeah. And obviously that's hard when you're in.
B
The middle of it, and it's hard when you're talking to other entrepreneurs because you can't just say, like, it's going to be okay. Keep your head down and work. Because it's not true.
A
Yeah.
B
Like, you could keep your head down and work hard and do the right things and not get there. Now, I think most people, if they keep their head down, hustle, work hard, focus. Like, I do think you end up with a higher chance of making it.
A
Yeah. And it may not be the thing that you originally intended to do, but I think you're right. In almost every case on our show. And just in conversations I've had, it's like, if you focus, keep your head down, work really hard, you will be led to where you need to be going.
B
Yeah. And I think that's where your show has been going. I think if someone. To me, it's the Harvard Business Review of today's generation, because.
A
Thank you.
B
It really documented what it's like, and you go back deeper than just like, oh, you became a successful entrepreneur. Congratulations. Like, what do you do now? It really does tell the story of how you get there, and I think that's. It resonates with people and gives them an understanding of what it's going to look like going through that tunnel.
A
Well, I hope people listen to your episode, if they haven't heard already. Jamie Simonov, founder of Ring, thanks so much for joining us on the advice line.
B
Thanks for having me.
A
And by the way, if you guys haven't heard Jamie's original How I Built this episode, you have to go back and check it out. You can find a link to it in the podcast description. And here's one of my favorite moments from that interview.
B
We start hearing it's like the week before Christmas. People are contacting me and saying it's not working. And their video was coming through like an old TV tuner. Like, it was, like, all, like, lines through it and just you couldn't see the picture. So most of our units are now in the field with customers that not only do they not work, but we can't change that software on them. So they're basically bricks.
A
You cannot fix the ones that people have.
C
Yeah.
B
You can't rewrite the software on this chip. And so this was like the end of the world. Like, this really was. Basically, the business is over.
A
Also, since we first ran this episode, some really cool things have happened for the entrepreneurs we talked to. Veeco actually debuted his Ergo Flex desk at ces, the biggest consumer electronics show in the world, earlier this year. Ian's chocolate company is sold out for the moment, but they're gearing up for a relaunch with updated packaging and a refreshed brand. And as for Francesca, she launched her Amazon store just in time for the new school year. Thanks so much for listening to the show this week. Please make sure to click the Follow button on your podcast apps so you never miss a new episode of the show. And if you're interested in big ideas about business and entrepreneurship, sign up for my newsletter@guyraz.com or on substack. And if you're working on a business and you'd like to be on this show, send us a one minute message that tells us about your business, the issues or questions you'd like help with, and hopefully we can help you with them. And make sure to tell us how to reach you. You can send us a voice memo@hibtid.wondery.com or call us at 1-800-433-1298 and leave a message there and we'll put all this in the podcast description as well. This episode was produced by Carla Estevez with music composed by Ramtin Arablouei. It was edited by John Isabella. Our audio engineer was Neil Rauch. Our production staff also includes Alex Chung, Casey Herman, Chris masini, Elaine Coates, J.C. howard, Katherine Cipher, Kerry Thompson, Neva Grant, and Sam Paulson. I'm Guy Raz and you've been listening to the advice line on How I Built this Lab. If you like how I built this, you can listen early and ad free right now by joining Wondery plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. Prime members can listen ad free on Amazon Music. Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short survey@wondery.com survey. You're a professional web creator who needs.
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Go to wixstudio.com.
Release Date: August 21, 2025
Host: Guy Raz | Guest: Jamie Siminoff (Founder of Ring)
Format: Advice Line – founders call in for real-time business advice
In this lively “advice line” episode, Guy Raz teams up with Jamie Siminoff, the innovative founder of Ring, to field business questions from three aspiring entrepreneurs at critical crossroads. Siminoff draws from his journey—bootstrapping a hardware device from his garage to a billion-dollar Amazon acquisition—to provide candid, actionable mentorship. The episode is equal parts tactical advice, personal stories, and comedic banter, focusing on go-to-market strategies, product positioning, pricing, niching, and the emotional resilience required to endure the entrepreneurial journey.
[Topic: Crowdfunding a High-Tech, Multi-Use Smart Desk]
Finding a Niche:
Launch Strategy:
Go Viral on a Budget:
Targeted Branding:
Learn From Early Adopters:
On Product Focus:
“The magic, a lot of times, comes from focusing it.” (11:59, Jamie)
On Entrepreneurial Lessons:
“I'm hoping there's one [niche] that's big enough to be a business, because if you have to do multiple to be a business, I really worry...” (15:43, Jamie)
[Fun] Guy’s Elevator Pitch Idea:
“The future is a desk that moves for you and that you can stand and sit.” (13:05, Guy)
[Topic: Premium, Ethically Sourced Nigerian Chocolate—Balancing Pricing, Impact, and Brand]
Authenticity vs. Market Reality:
Mission Matters, but Product Must Win:
On Pricing & Scaling:
Elevate Premium Positioning:
On Balancing Mission and Margin:
“You're saying, ‘I'm doing all these premium things…’ [vs] ‘I want to be the cheapest chocolate in the world.’ These things feel so distant.” (29:24, Jamie)
Brand Aspiration Advice:
“I would take a page out of LVMH…what's amazing…is their margins are so high because it's brand, it's aspiration they're selling. But it's also quality.” (35:41, Guy)
[Topic: Inclusive Classroom Posters—Certifications, Amazon Storefront, and Expansion]
Understand Your Market:
Beyond Schools:
Certifications—When and Why:
Product Exposure:
On Product Power:
“As I’m thinking about it, I kinda love it. The drone one...I love how that resonates. It sparks.” (44:56, Jamie)
On Representation:
“Just to see something like that [a disabled student represented on a poster]…that just makes them feel really good about themselves.” (45:19, Francesca)
Guy asks: "If you could go back to you in the garage, before you knew Ring would succeed, what would you tell yourself?"
Jamie:
“If I really knew…just keep your head down. It's gonna be okay. The hardest part of entrepreneurship is you don't know it's gonna be okay—because it might not be. That's also why it's good to work on products you care about, because at least then you spent some time on something that mattered. Sometimes you see a glimmer of light, but it’s rare to see the full light…you don’t know how long the tunnel is.” (53:50–54:42)
On Reality:
“You could keep your head down and work hard…and not get there. But…you end up with a higher chance of making it.” (54:54)
This episode crackles with practical guidance and warmth. Siminoff’s humility—bearing wisdom from both triumphs and setbacks—sets a relatable example for callers and listeners. The stories demonstrate that while technical excellence and ethical missions matter, business fundamentals—focus, iteration, understanding your market, and storytelling—are the keys to progress, no matter how daunting the tunnel may seem.
“If you focus, keep your head down, work really hard, you will be led to where you need to be going.” (55:25, Guy Raz)
Listen to the full episode for deeper context, warmth, and humor!