Shoe Dog, The story of NIKE
Becoming a Professor of the Jungle.
Ever forget things? Loser. Me too. Consider this series my repository for book learnings, quotes and reflections. So that one day, 3 years from now, I’ll actually remember this book rather than having to re-read it. Feel free to use these as book-recs, or for a quick memory assist. Share them with a friend and read together. Let me know in the comments if I missed something important.
This book was Excellent. Excellent, as in texting all your friends to tell them how much you liked it. Excellent, as in dripping tears on to the last pages (metaphorically of course because I audiobook). Excellent, as in contributing a few quotes to my favorite quotes list.
“The cowards never started and the weak died along the way. That leaves us.“
- Phil Knight
https://www.amazon.com/Shoe-Dog-Memoir-Creator-Nike-ebook/dp/B0176M1A44
Overview:
Unbeknownst to me, NIKE had a tumultuous origin story. Wrought with FBI investigations, international conflict, banks refusing to loan money, and many near-bankruptcy moments, saved at the buzzer, by true believers.
Phil Knight was a track runner at University of Oregon, coached by Bill Bowerman, a world renowned coach and notorious experimenter. Bill was constantly putting together shoe prototypes and drink concoctions to help his athletes preform better.
After graduating and puttering through a few sales jobs, Phil recruited Bowerman to co-found a company called Blue Ribbon to sell Japanese shoes in the US.
Blue Ribbon partnered with a Japanese company called Onitsuka Tiger, to distributed their shoe - the tiger in the US. The trouble began when Onitsuka began allowing others to also distribute their shoes in the US.
Phil hired a spy inside of Onitsuka. Phil snuck peaks in brief- cases after meetings. Phil talked about the above actions in company emails. 🤦♂️
That was when the Blue ribbon/Onitsuka relationship began to sour. Blue Ribbon wanted to be the sole US distributer, Onitsuka felt they had the upper hand, and wanted to buy Blue Ribbon.
In secret Phil started exploring other manufacturers who could make shoes for him at the same quality. He worried that Onitsuka would find out that they were shopping around, so they needed a new name for their new shoe company. It was non other than full-time-employee-#1 Jeff Johnson, who thought of the name NIKE, which was initially, hated by all.
The newly named, NIKE, found a factory to manufacture shoes, and off they went, planning to announce the transition at the 1971 national shoe expo. All the while stringing Onitsuka along pretending to consider the acquisition.
The launch went well and they told Onitsuka to go kick rocks.
Of course, Onitsuka sued them for breach of contract given that blue ribbon was supposed to exclusively sell tigers, and the trial ensued, digging up all of Phil’s incriminating communications.
Because of Onitsuka’s bad behavior though-out their relationship NIKE won the trial clearing their name and they were off to the races.
The book goes into far more depth but I’ll just call out a few more little known facts.
I was shocked to learn that NIKE invented the first track spikes. Made by their very own Bill Bowerman.
The early group of NIKE employees called themselves the buttfaces. As the company grew and they became the VP’s/major shareholders they called their quarterly meeting buttface. See the Buttfaces below:
NIKE was one of the first commerce companies to leverage debt for growth in the way that VC money funds startup growth today.
The cycle went as follows. Knight would sell out of inventory, pay off his line of credit just in time and then immediately place an order for twice as many shoes doubling his debt.
Today there are forms of debt specifically for lending against supply chain assets (called supply chain financing and asset backed lending). There are also many VCs that fund consumer products and brands. Needless to say if NIKE was founded today, they would’ve had a much smoother financial journey. But at the same time, it’s these hard fought successes that unlock accessible capital for those who follow.
Takeaways & Quotes to Remember:
Our time is short, shorter than we ever know, short as a morning run, and I wanted mine to be meaningful. And purposeful. And Creative. And important. And above all… different.
Growth comes in 2 forms Kensho & Satori — Kensho is growth by pain. Satori is growth from moments of awakening.
Persistence. It was 10 years before Blue Ribbon, grew to more than 3 full time employees.
I am a professor of the jungle. -General Võ Nguyên Giáp, a military general of the Vietnam war in describing how he defeated foreign powers invading their soil. Whatever your objective, know it deeply.
Business is war without bullets.
Life is dangerous, and this: We must always be prepared.
Somebody may beat me — but, they are going to have to bleed to do it.
Heroes are the ones who did not say much. None was a blabbermouth. None micromanaged. Don’t tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results.