History of Nike, the Swoosh, the sweat of Phil Knights and Nike's early members are described in this fun, genuine, riveting book. Such a great story teller, Phil Knight, takes us the early days of his journey to build Blue Ribbon, and eventually Nike till its IPO in 1979. This book will make you want to finish the book in one seating.
This book was chosen as a part of our book club meeting (ABBA - Adobe Business Book Association), I created late last year. I would not have chosen such book without this external influence. For that, I would say I was lucky!
In Shoe Dog, Phil narrates monumental events for each year chronologically. Phil's life is full of adventure from his traveling around the world at the age of 26 to the journey of building Nike that you know now. What a journey!
He believes in product. He is a risk-driven. He manages his business in a way that any odd will put him under easily ('live on the float' was the term). He is eccentric. He is super competitive. He is so driven and focused. He is persistent. He doesn't give up. He is fighter like his life depends on it. He is truthful. He acknowledges his weakness.
Here I would like to spend more time sharing how lucky he was.
First of all, there are many times that he would not have come up with the new direction without external forces. In 1971, Kitami from Onitsuka Corp of Kobe (Asics) visited with the intention of choosing other distributors for their Tiger shoes in the US than Blue Ribbon. Phil acted super fast to react for that matter, eventually leading the creation of Nike. Were it not for the Asics' move, Nike would not have been born. Would it be sooner or later?
Furthermore, I remember two best moments in how he was rescued miraculously. The first one was when his account got frozen by Bank of California due to the tendency of paying late. The only solution was via Nissho trading company. What make matters worse was that Mr. Sumeragi at Nissho did not deposit checks on time, despite Blue Ribbon made absolute efforts to pay on time, in order to help Blue Ribbon. Ito, Mr Sumeragi's boss, however believed in Phil Knight. When meeting with Bank of California, Ito cut the chase and said 'Nissho would like to pay off the debt of Blue Ribbon - in full'. Ah! I can't describe the feeling of euphoria and joy at that time!
Another time was when he faced a lawsuit. Since Onitsuka had filed a lawsuit against Blue Ribbon in Japan in 1973, Phil Knight had to file quickly against them in the United States, for breach of contract and trademark infringement. He described how poorly himself and his team did at the court. He said he had no idea what he was saying. Judge scolded him not making sense. However, at the end, the judge stood on the side of Phil thanks to Iwano's testimony and Kitami's lying. Nice. Phil's truthfulness went through the court.
Most of all, he was lucky since he had many trusted people. Bill Bowerman is Phil's college track coach, Olympic coach, an inventor of the famous Waffle sole, and most of all trusted Phil and became the founding member of the Blue Ribbon. Jeff Johnson was his first full time employee, who wrote endless letters, even with no response from Phil. He is a flexible, devoted, hard-working man from the beginning of Nike history. Bob Woodwell, despite being on a wheelchair, was Phil's right wing man for any operational side of things. His family money was crucial to save Blue Ribbon. Delbert J Hayes was Phil's boss when Phil was working at Price Waterhouse as an accountant, and joined Nike later on. Phil introduced him as the best accountant in the office. Rob Strasser, joined Nike in 1974, was a recent grad of UC Berkeley School of Law. His true talent was in negotiation. Although he went in a head-to-head conflict with Phil and moved to Adidas later on, his daughter went to work for Nike. Phil has a special ability to attract those people who believe in what he believe in, and stay together to build something great. He often hired and invested in people without particular relevant experiences. He probably focused more on potential.That I'd say a great gift!
Despite all of the greatest characters, he has lucks. During many critical moments when he was absolutely desperate and when his business could go under in any moment, he had people's trust and luck. Being able to see through the market opportunity and move people to his vision, he is absolutely uniquely interesting person. Phil Knight is the founder of THE Nike, Inc., after all. Shoe Dog is definitely a worth for your time!
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