Book Summary 52 — Shoe Dog — A Memoir by the Creator of Nike
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Incredible book about Phil “Buck” Knight the founder of Nike. Stanford graduate, after a year in the army, he was looking for meaning and had what he called “a crazy idea”.
I wanted mine to be meaningful. And purposeful. And creative. And important. Above all… different. I wanted to leave a mark on the world. I wanted to win.
Getting Started
He had a great mentor, Bowerman, a great American running coach, who was constantly experimenting with shoes. The book gives a great insight into the 60’s / 70’s, where running was just not a “thing”. There was no real running shoes and people would get ridiculed for running. Another thing it put into perspective, was how fragile international relationships were, especially with Vietnam and with Japan.
Phil Knight, first went on a international trip, where Japan was the end goal and borrowed $1k from his father, which he used to import Tiger shoes from Japan (cheaper running shoe). He founded “Blue Ribbon” and started selling shoes in the US.
So why was selling shoes so different? Because, I realised, it wasn’t selling. I believed in running. I believed that if people got out and ran a few miles every day, the world would be a better place, and I believed these shoes were better to run in. People sensing my belief, wanted some of that belief for themselves. Belief, I decided. Belief is irresistible.
Blue Ribbon — Early Beginnings
Blue Ribbon (and later Nike) was always cash strapped, until it finally went public (decades later), because every cent was reinvested in ordering/producing more shoes and the company was doubling in size every year. Back then Venture Capital was non-existent and banks would reject Blue Ribbon, as they “didn’t have enough assets”, despite their insane growth.
Strapped on money the company always kept super lean, working from storage rooms, surrounded by shoes (which they loved).
Ford had just paid a top-flight consulting firm $2m to come up with a name of its new Maverick, I announced to everyone. “We haven’t got $2m — but we got 50 smart people, and we can’t do any worse than… Maverick.”
The most impressive thing in the book is how Phil managed to surround himself with Shoe Dogs. It shows how important the right attitude and motivation is to achieve great goals. Funny enough — his senior management team was obese or disabled, but their undying belief in shoes was what was crucial.
Shoe dogs were people who devoted themselves wholly to the making, selling, buying, or designing of shoes. […] It was an all-consuming mania, a recognisable psychological disorder, to care so much about insoles and outsoles, linings and welts, rivets and vamps. But I understood.
Every year for the company was a struggle to get imports on time, make cash payments, get orders to customers (as they had huge demand, but not enough shoes). It all exploded when their Japanese exporter decided to buy them or give their business to someone else.
Nike — The Birth
The Blue Ribbon team secretly started a new line of shoes, which they manufactured themselves and called it Nike (they came up with the name as one of the early employees dreamt about it), avoiding their pending acquisition (which went to trial and even the FBI).
And what’s THIS?
That’s a swoosh.
The hell’s a swoosh?
The answer flew out of me: It’s the sound of someone going past you.
They liked that. Oh, they liked it a whole lot.
Nike was born and it raised a whole new range of problems. Hiring, production, factories, exchange rates, quality issues with shoes. There was plenty and Nike ran into constant troubles, but the senior management team seemed to handle it really well, with regular “Buttfaces”, loose and fun senior management retreats, where every opinion as valued and shouted out, laughed at, discussed in excess.
Later Years
“When goods don’t pass international borders, soldiers will.” Though I’d been known to call business war without bullets, it’s actually a wonderful bulwark against war. Trade is the path of coexistence, cooperation. Peace feeds on prosperity.
With the years, Nike overtook Adidas and became the role model in sustainable, environmental friendly production of shoes. They diversified their production across many countries and fulfilled one of Phil’s goal to create factories in Vietnam, which was important to him to establish trade and stop any war in its outset.
And those who urge entrepreneurs to never give up? Charlatans. Sometimes you have to give up. Sometimes knowing when to give up, when to try something else, is genius. Giving up doesn’t mean stopping. Don’t ever stop.
Phil is an amiable character, he is easy to relate to. Awkward, constantly out of his depth and doubting himself, but always keeps going. He was definitely lucky to find the right people to work with him. Reading about such characters really illustrates the passion Nike was built on. It’s incredible to read about his struggles as an entrepreneur and see how “much harder” (arguably) his struggles were to built a business, without internet, venture capital, phones (writing letters) and international relations.
Luck plays a big role. Yes, I would like to publicly acknowledge the power of luck. Athletes get lucky, poets get lucky, businesses get lucky. Hard work is critical, a good team is essential, brains and determination are invaluable, but luck may decide the outcome. Some people might not call it luck. They might call it Tao, or Logos, or Jnana, or Dharma. Or Spirit. Or God.
