Thoughts on Shoe Dog : Memoir by the creator of Nike, Phil Knight

It’s one of the best entrepreneurial stories I’ve read and here’s my take on the book.

I am overwhelmed after having lived through Phil Knight’s journey as an entrepreneur. I learnt valuable lessons on wide range of subjects such as negotiation, team culture, sports and sportsmen, leadership, hiring, accounting, business wisdom and entrepreneurial mindset. I also learnt a bit of Japanese.😜

The book takes you through Nike’s journey from being a Japanese shoe-dealer for US market to being one of the most loved brands in the world. It also describes about several low points in Phil’s career, as one would expect. The time when the bank refused to grant him a loan to order more shoes, point when he realized that Onitsuka, the Japanese company for which Nike was a dealer in US threatened to walk out and the lawsuit which followed it, the point when the federal government demanded $25 million saying that the fledgling startup Nike owed customs duties dating back three years. There are plenty of thrilling stories which makes it an enjoyable read.

I instantly got connected to Phil because the way he thought about his life and what he wanted to do with it resonated with my thinking and how I look at life.

I had an aching sense that our time is short, shorter than we ever know, short as morning run, and 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.

I liked the concept of FAILING FAST which meant it gave us enough time to implement all the hard-won lessons in our next venture. I was fascinated by the science behind making shoes. One ounce sliced off a pair of shoes equaled 55 pounds over a mile.

Belief is irresistible:

He threw light on why it is important to pursue what you believe in and how it can change the way you operate. The team at Nike would put their heart into making good quality running shoes.

I was puzzled over my sudden success at selling. I’d been unable to sell encyclopedias, and I’d despised it to boot. I’d been slightly better at selling mutual funds, but I’d felt dead inside. 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 everyday, the world would be a better place and I believed these shoes were better to run.

How to have majority control over the company even after going public?

When the company faced severe cash-flow problem, they had no other option than going public. But Phil was not comfortable with the idea of public offering. He feared that he might lose control over the company by bringing outside people into the board. This is where I found a good answer to this question — “How to have majority control over the company even after going public?”So the answer is quite interesting which involves offering two classes of stock- class A and class B. Class A is for the founders, team and people associated with the company before it went public. And class B would be for the public. This way you can raise enormous sums of money, turbocharge your growth but ensure that you keep control.

The Team:

I simply love the founding team of the company. They’re hilarious. I had a good laugh reading about their peculiarities in the way they did their work. My favorite character was Johnson. He’s the odd guy in that team who does his work with utmost sincerity. He used to send numerous letters to Phil relating to his complaints, how he managed to trick a guy into a deal, and Phil never replied to his letters which made him only furious. And he would again write a complaint letter that he is not being treated well.

The team culture felt like it was very liberating and informal in a way, like many other startups. There was no mention of Phil being this “CEO” of the company and everyone must abide or respect to what he says. In fact, they would call Phil, Bucky the Book Keeper. They would have verbal volleys among each other, shoot down team member’s ideas and each one hashing out threats to the company.

Self-guiding leader, Phil Knight:

I really admire his way of leading people. He was very cool as the head of the company. At times when he did not know the answer to a question, he would openly confess it. He is kind of a leader who gives you space to experiment your own ideas and room to fail.

Don’t tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results

In Conclusion:

If you fall into at least one of the following categories, then you should definitely check this book out.

• You are a budding entrepreneur.
• You love sports and admire sportsmen.
• You love the brand Nike and what it stands for i.e they honor great athletes.
• You love reading autobiographies. I feel it is more of a thriller kind of a book.

Before I forget, I would like to thank Sagar for lending me this amazing book. I had fantastic time reading this book and taking down notes. I’ll surely buy one for myself to refer it again in future. Thanks for reading!

Thanks for reading Writers Guild — A Smedian publication

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