Recently Read: "Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike" by Phil Knight

I’m an Adidas guy. It’s not that I hate Nike— they make fantastic shoes and I absolutely love the look of Jordans — I’ve just stubbornly bought the 3 stripes for as long as I can remember. Still, I picked up an audio copy of this book and immersed myself in the narrative while going about my day.

Shoe Dog isn’t a book that explicitly teaches you anything. There are no business insights to be gleaned, and barely any mention of how shoes are made. Yet, the genesis story of Nike, coupled with an excellent narration in the audio book, reminded me of a few great life lessons.

People, Ideas, Passion

Throughout the book, it often occured to me that Knight got lucky; Knight himself acknowledges the role of chance in the book too. Amidst all the setbacks, Knight and his founding team, transformed Blue Ribbon (Nike’s original brand name selling Onitsuka shoes), into the shoe giant that it is today.

The founding team of impressed me the most. Each worked tirelessly and with little pay. Was Knight a great business executive, with brilliant ideas and an amazing people management skills? Not exactly. He didn’t create the iconic waffle iron design, his coach Bowerman did. While Knight had a hand in selling Onitsukas, it was employee number one Johnson who did all the heavy lifting — he made record number of sales since the beginning and also single handedly established Blue Ribbon on the East Coast; later on, he also came up with the brand name Nike in a dream. So what did Knight and Blue Ribbon have to offer that was so compelling for everyone to be overworked and underpaid? Culture and passion.

So why was selling shoes so different? Because, I realized, 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. — Phil Knight

In my opinion, it was the Knight’s, and the entire team’s, burning passion for great shoes. They were honest and authentic — they willingly acknowledged the flaws in their products, yet also worked tirelessly to improve them. Setbacks never deterred them, uncomfortable changes were made and accepted. Everything was about victory, about Nike.

Just Do It

The challenges faced by Knight and Nike were nothing but intense. In the early days, growth in profits did not stop, it could not afford to stop. With poor cash balances and being heavily leveraged, anything except increased profits every month would have stopped the avalanche of growth dead in its tracks. Later on, Onitsuka also betrayed Blue Ribbon by severing their contract and removed their rights from selling Onitsukas. This essentially marked the end of Blue Ribbon. Competitors of Nike also decided to lobby against them, forcing Nike into a crippling debt owed to the US government. If paid, it would have brought them out of business entirely.

Yet Nike clearly survived. Being forced into a corner multiple times, Knight and his founding team had to make decisions that were wild and unfathomable. Yet, it was do or die. And they did.

I have nothing but admiration for the grit and willingness to go against all odds to achieve their goals. Granted, they knew they had a wildly successful product that resonated well with their target market. They had world class athletes endorsing their shoes and its quality. But the sheer amount of stress and anxiety could have easily broken their spirits.

Conclusion

The story of Nike is a reminder to be passionate and crazy about my dreams — photography, writing, career aspirations. The ungraceful growth of Nike inspires me to be bold about making mistakes, to embrace them as opportunities for further success. The amazing founding team encourages me to surround myself with great people who would complement my shortcomings, and motivate me to achieve more than I can dream of.

I still might not buy the orange swoosh, but it will always be an inspirational testament of what victory means.