This is an as-told-to essay based on a conversation with Jamie Siminoff, founder and CEO of Ring and a vice president at Amazon. Siminoff’s new book, “Ding Dong: How Ring Went From Shark Tank Reject To Everyone’s Front Door,” was released on November 10. Siminoff lives in Los Angeles with his wife and son. This story has been edited for length and clarity.
I’m the founder and CEO of Ring and a VP at Amazon, and I have all the wrong routines.
Here’s what a day in my life is like.
I wake up between 6:30 and 7 a.m.
I don’t use an alarm clock because I hate them. The first thing I do is turn on the “Today” show, grab my phone, and have a cup of black coffee.
Everyone says, “Don’t get right on your phone in the morning,” but I love getting on my phone for at least 30 minutes to check emails and catch up.
I drop my son off at school at 8 a.m.
On the way to school, my 17-year-old son and I listen to Ryan Seacrest on the radio, including the “Ryan’s Roses” segment on Monday and Wednesday, which is very funny.
I prefer not to eat and instead fast until lunch. If we have extra time or he has a late start, we might go to the Farm Shop in Brentwood and have breakfast, because the ritual of eating breakfast with your family is really fun.
Then I head to the office. My commute is about 30 minutes. I have a Tesla Model Y, and the car drives me. It’s amazing. I don’t touch the wheel.
I have figured out exactly where to put my phone in the car so that I can do emails without getting yelled at, because the car will yell at you if you don’t look ahead. I have to keep it pretty high on the wheel, so about every other month or two, I get a ticket for using my phone while driving.
I get to the office around 8:30 a.m.
I’m pretty busy from around 9 a.m. to 2:30 or 3 p.m. I have a lot of meetings. About 80% of my work involves product development, which encompasses building, designing, and inventing new products. Anytime I can invent, it’s fun. I enjoy thinking about small problems and finding solutions to them.
My dog, a Belgian Malinois named Biscuit, usually comes with me to the office. Amazon has a very dog-friendly office environment, so there are a ton of dogs here.
She follows me around, goes to meetings, and sleeps everywhere. I basically take pictures of her sleeping and send them to my wife throughout the day.
I’ll have lunch around 11:30 a.m.
I choose my lunch at the office from the healthy food offerings available. I won’t take a break but rather eat at my desk or in meetings.
I try to eat as simply as possible, so often that’s just chicken and rice. I don’t enjoy Michelin-starred restaurants; that’s like torture for me.
I try to leave the office at 3 p.m.
I leave in the afternoon because I find that my brain is at its best from when I wake up until around that time. If I stayed at the office until 6 p.m., three to six would be absolutely just a waste of time.
I leave and go for a run every day. I used to run with Biscuit, but as she’s getting older, I now run on my own. I run three to five miles on the trails behind my house. I’ll listen to a podcast or book. I’ve ripped through a bazillion audiobooks.
I love nonfiction and autobiographies. I recently listened to a book about how the United States essentially won World War II through manufacturing, called “Freedom’s Forge” by Arthur L. Herman.
I have dinner and then work some more from 8 to 10 p.m.
Jamie Siminoff
After my run, I’ll spend time around the house, have an early dinner, and then work on my computer. If my wife were sitting here, she’d kick me. We have a joke in the house that’s, “Are you going to cook your special… or your famous…” We’re not cooks.
DoorDash is our chef. Sometimes we order from multiple locations because we want different items. We love Tocaya, a healthy Mexican fast-casual restaurant.
We eat out quite a bit, and to the same places, so everyone knows us. We probably go to Cinque Terre West, a casual Italian place in Venice, three nights a week.
I go to sleep between 10 and 11 p.m.
I try to get a solid eight hours of sleep. Before bed, I’m doing all the things you’re not supposed to do: the TV is on, and I’m watching some bad Netflix show or a Taylor Sheridan series. I love all his stuff: “Yellowstone,” “Landman,” and “Tulsa King.”
I’m on my laptop and my phone, but as soon as I want to, I shut them all down and fall asleep in one second.
We just got an Eight Sleep mattress, which I love because it regulates the temperature and analyzes your sleep. I outscore my wife every night, and it’s become very competitive.
I’ve learned to protect my time
In everything I do, I have a light switch without a dimmer. Either I’m all in or I’m off.
On weekends, I still work, but it’s broken up. I’m not a workaholic; I’m very family-first, so we spend time together, or I’ll attend my son’s games. I work in between because otherwise I’ll get bored on the weekends. The idea of sitting on a beach for two days would be death for me.
I’ve learned to be more protective of my time, which is very hard because I’ve always tried to be accessible. My email address is on every Ring box. I want to meet with people and see what’s happening on the ground.
At the same time, I’m very hard on what goes on my schedule, because I know that it’s death by a half hour. Every half hour that you give somewhere adds up, and you literally do run out of time.
