Chasing a Sneaker Vision

Journey Into Shoe Business

In 1962, Phil Knight, dared to dream out loud. His unconventional idea was to import Japanese running shoes into America. His inspiration came from a research paper he wrote while at Stanford University. Despite the indifference from classmates, he passionately pursued his dream.

Embracing Adventure For Entrepreneurship

Undeterred by his father's initial hesitation, Phil convinced him to fund a trip around the world. This journey would take him to Hawaii, Japan, Hong Kong, Rangoon, Calcutta, and Cairo. Each location providing him with a deeper understanding of different cultures and insightful experiences.

Triumph Over Lifely Hurdles

Life on the road was not without its pitfalls. Phil grappled with the struggle of selling encyclopedias and the loneliness that encompassed him. However, his trip was not without its rewards as he managed to secure a deal to import Onitsuka Corp's Tiger shoes to the US.

A Year of Decisions and Reflections

A Venture Delayed

The frustration begins with a delayed shoe shipment for a new business project. The delay sparks the author's first touch of impatience as he waits eagerly, only to receive a disappointing response from the company.

New Look, New Reaction

Emerging with a new look after globe-trotting adventures, the author is met by family members' surprise. These physical changes seem to mirror his internal shifts, provoking him to consider life-altering decisions.

Finding Direction

A consultation with a trusted family friend lends direction to the author’s career path. Rather than returning to prior positions, the advice urges him to become a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) to secure future earnings.

The Demanding Work Life

Navigating the world of accounting proves strenuous, with long hours that leave the author feeling overwhelmed. Despite this, solace is found in his earnings, and daydreams of travels offer a respite. Few moments of reflection make the author wonder if his peak has already come and gone.

Footwear Fortune and Winding Relationships

Shoes: Gateway to Success

In 1964, a bunch of shoes ignites an entrepreneurial spark. Twelve pairs of attractive Japanese ones called Tigers become the start of something big. The narrator sends two pairs to his shoes-obsessed former track coach, Bill Bowerman, setting the foundation for a future business partnership.

Triumph Over Competition

Selling Tigers becomes a success, but not without challenges. A rival claims to be the exclusive American distributor for Onitsuka, the Tigers' maker. A trip to Japan clears this up, helping the narrator secure his business and setup partnership with Bowerman.

Love on Mount Fuji

Strewn along this business journey is a love affair. On a trip to Mount Fuji, the narrator meets a girl named Sarah. They start a relationship. However, it short-lived as Sarah believes they're not right for each other.

Rejection and Recovery

The narrator, offbeat from Sarah's rejection, offers his sister Jeanne a part-time job at his business. She chuckles and takes it as the first-ever employee of now, Blue Ribbon. This heel turn helps the narrator find his footing in life again.

Pioneering Nike: Early struggles and strides

Jeff Johnson's Passionate Involvement

Jeff Johnson is highlighted as a key figure in the early days of Blue Ribbon. He not only sells shoes in California but communicates his passion and experiences to Phil Knight with constant letters. Phil, although overwhelmed by the volume of letters, appreciates Johnson's dedication and zeal.

Navigating The Corporate Waters

Phil, in the inception stages of what later becomes Nike, faces misunderstandings and resistance from his banker who fails to comprehend his ambitious growth plans. This financial hurdle, coupled with Johnson's overwhelming correspondence, leaves Knight swamped and stressed.

Lessons from a Mentor

On his path of building a successful company, Knight gets crucial support from his accountant mentor, Delbert Hayes. Hayes helps Knight appreciate the artistry in numbers and make sense of the daunting financial figures.

Bowerman's Design Experiments

Bill Bowerman, true to his dedication, experimenting and improving the design of running shoes. Teaming up with Onitsuka in Japan, Bowerman refines and advances the prototypes, earning positive feedback and paving the way for Nike's later success.

Trailblazers in Sports Merchandising

Undying Dedication and Creativity

Phil Knight's confidant and first employee, Johnson, demonstrated resilience and ingenuity. Despite Knight's limited response, Johnson showed fervor in his letter writing. Promoting Blue Ribbon Sports innovatively, Johnson continued with his untiring efforts, even opening the brand's first ever retail store for runners in Santa Monica.

Fierce Competition Fuels Action

The rising threat from the Marlboro Man, a new distributor, led to a decisive tour to Japan by Knight. His mission was to strike a deal with the Japanese company Onitsuka, to ensure exclusive distribution rights for Blue Ribbon. The decision was triggered when Marlboro Man started selling Tiger, Onitsuka's shoes, in the eastern U.S.

Securing Exclusive Rights

Despite a formidable challenge, Knight negotiated successfully with Onitsuka, convincing them to sign a three-year distribution agreement in favor of Blue Ribbon. Knight returned home with a massive task ahead. He needed to fulfill an imposing order of five thousand shoes and establish an East Coast office before the large shipment arrived.

Expanding Blue Ribbon - Nike's Precursor

Stumbling Blocks in Blue Ribbon's Growth

In 1967, Phil Knight experienced the challenges of expanding Blue Ribbon, which later evolved into Nike. Knight's plan to bring in a new manager to replace the current one, Johnson, hit a snag when the chosen candidate backed out. This led Phil into convincing Johnson, despite resistance, to head to the East Coast for the company's expansion there.

Compromises and New Hires

Phil had to face another crisis when Johnson threatened to quit and demanded a partnership with a higher salary. A meeting with Johnson's father helped resolve the issue. Amidst these internal matters, Blue Ribbon welcomed new employees, including a former track star with a tragic personal story.

Rivalry and Success

Blue Ribbon slowly saw success and increased rivalry. Phil desired to beat Adidas's market dominance, especially when Adidas contested the name of Blue Ribbon's new shoe prototype, the Aztec, created by Phil's ex-coach Bowerman. Meanwhile, Bowerman's book, 'Jogging,' gained popularity and spotlighted the brand.

Solidifying Blue Ribbon's Existence

On the other side, a high school track star guided Johnson to the perfect location, Wellesley, Boston for Blue Ribbon's East Coast office. Concurrently, Phil considering living in Blue Ribbon's new spacious office as he spent an almost home-like amount of time there, thereby establishing Blue Ribbon in all aspects of his life.

Journey towards Blue Ribbon

Swapping Finance for Academics

During the bustling year of 1968, Blue Ribbon was a thriving side project. Striving to focus more on Blue Ribbon, a shift from the full-time job at Price Waterhouse to a less demanding assistant professor role at the Portland State University is made. Despite acquiring a less hectic job, the turn of events doesn't sit well with the father and the boss.

A Complementary Partnership

Penelope Parks enters the scene, a brilliant student who soon becomes a colleague at the shoe company. Their bond evolves over time, leading to an engagement. More than just a love interest, Penelope becomes a valuable asset contributing significantly to the progress of Blue Ribbon.

Japan Venture and a Gesture of Goodwill

A business trip to Japan strengthens the relationship with an important contact at Onitsuka. Apart from business, an act of kindness towards a typhoon victim, Fujimoto, is undertaken by providing him money to buy a new bicycle. Optimism eventually blossoms into certainty when the author marries Penelope in a grand ceremony in 1968.

Nike's Early Growth and Challenges

Nike's Early Inspired Sales Boost

In 1969, an exciting time for Nike saw a spike in sales with quite a significant jump from $150,000 in the prior year to almost double that, at $300,000. This was largely fueled by the hiring of sales representatives, interestingly all of whom were past runners. This passionate team showed great motivation in their sales tactics.

Emergence of Nike's Advertising

Amidst the rise, Nike's founder, Phil Knight, identified the crucial part advertising played in scaling up the business. Despite its initial crude form and irregularity, he saw the need for more dedication towards their promotional strategy. To this end, he hired a professional artist for creating attention-catching print ads.

The Threat and Solutions

Even as Nike grew, looming threats existed. Dominance by rivals Adidas and Puma, especially in the 1968 Olympics, was disheartening to Knight and his partner, Bowerman. Eventually, endorsing athletes became a pondered upon strategy. Simultaneously, Knight's personal life and the financial pressure on Nike due to his growing family was a concern.

Addressing Nike's Internal Challenges

Meanwhile, Knight expertly handled an internal rebellion from an employee, Bork, with assistance from operations manager, Woodell. They took a proactive step towards optimizing Nike's operations, suggesting a transition of the disorganized warehouse operations.

Blue Ribbon's Testing Times

Struggle with Onitsuka

Phil Knight, Nike's co-founder, grapples with the tough state of his company, Blue Ribbon. As the sole Onitsuka Tiger shoes distributor in the U.S., Knight suffers delivery delays and mistakes. The Japanese company's standing with Blue Ribbon is dicey due to these issues.

Failed Public Offering

Out of options for funding and burdened with hefty bank loans, Knight considers a small public offering. However, this plan crumbles embarrassingly, leaving Knight scrambling for financial aid from acquaintances and ex-team players.

The Stress Effects

Stress-induced weight gain creeps upon Knight due to lack of physical activity. Reviving his running passion, he intensively prepares for a match with Steve Prefontaine, an erstwhile competitor. Concurrently, Knight unravels the strengths of Japanese commerce firms.

Souring Relations and New Plans

Planning to facilitate finances via Nissho Iwai, Knight faces the shock of Onitsuka contemplating the termination of their Blue Ribbon contract. Knight's uncertain about Blue Ribbon's future and his bond with Onitsuka.

Birth of the Nike Shoe

Unique Innovation in Shoe Tech

When it comes to discussions on ground-breaking athletic shoe development, Bowerman's relentless determination is noteworthy. Aiming to create a better track surface for runners, he ran multiple experiments with molds. His unique innovation struck gold with a mold resembling a waffle-like pattern, which demonstrated immense potential after successful tests on a runner.

Waffle Soles: Strides Towards Success

Bowerman’s novel brainchild, the pliable, waffle-like rubber nubs shoes, landed impressive results with a runner. The exciting experimental outcome led him to reach out with a sample pair for the factory in Japan, bell marking the revolutionary Nike shoe's infancy.

Rise of Nike in 1972

Defining Moment for Nike

In 1972, Nike geared up to debut their namesake shoe at the influential National Sporting Goods Association Show in Chicago. The company needed sales reps to take a liking to the shoe which was pivotal for the brand's survival.

Onitsuka's Impact

At the same time, Onitsuka seized control of Blue Ribbon, causing a hidden rift. Despite the shoe’s quality concerns and brand unfamiliarity, sales reps were sold on the Nike shoe, which spelled success for the company.

Nike's Turning Point

Relations with Onitsuka turned sour, leading to a bitter end of their business relationship. Nike then took a different turn by roping in famous tennis player, Ilie Nastase.

Victorious Moment for Nike

That year, the University of Oregon football team, sporting Nike shoes, claimed a victory against Oregon State, giving the brand further recognition and the momentum it needed.

Pre's Comeback Story: A Journey of Redemption

A Weighted Fourth Place

After his disappointing fourth-place finish in the 1972 Olympics, former track star Pre sank into a deep depression, weighed down by the belief that he had let everyone down. However, after spending months playing with his dog Lobo, he clawed his way back to the top.

Return to Victor's Circle

Regaining his spirit, Pre managed to shatter records once more. He became the victor of the NCAA three-mile and even set a new American record in the 5,000 – both while wearing Nike running shoes.

Brand Power

Pre amplified his comeback by becoming the second celebrity endorser for Blue Ribbon – earning $5,000 annually. Alongside Hollister, Pre embarked on tours to boost Nike's reputation nationwide.

Trials and Joy

As Pre was dealing with his personal battles, Blue Ribbon faced their own. With the help of Cousin Houser and a young lawyer, Rob Strasser, they challenged Onitsuka in a legal battle. Amidst these struggles, the Futures program was introduced to secure retailer commitments. Amidst all these, Phil celebrated the birth of his second son, Travis.

Nike's Victory in the Courtroom

In a pivotal 1974 court case, Phil Knight, Nike's founder, battled Onitsuka, a ex-partner turned opponent. Despite attempts at settlement, they faced off, with Onitsuka's lawyer portraying Knight and his company, Blue Ribbon, as fraudulent. However, Knight's lawyer, Cousin Houser, prepared thoroughly and debated systematically. There were moments when Knight doubted his stand, even accepting Judge James's criticism for his testimony, but the legal team felt positive signs from the judge. Ultimately, James ruled in favor of Blue Ribbon, thereby granting them ownership over 'Boston' and 'Cortez' brands and recognizing the damage done to the company. Knight and his team, after much negotiation, agreed to a settlement of $400,000 and rejoiced their courtroom triumph.

Financial Turbulence in Blue Ribbon's History

Navigating Financial Dilemma

In 1975, Blue Ribbon, the precursor to Nike, found itself facing a serious financial predicament. The company was growing so quickly that it strained its cash reserves, leading to an increase in its assets and inventory. The relentless approach to growth by its founder, Phil Knight, just worsened the situation.

The Debt Crisis

To add to their troubles, Blue Ribbon was indebted to Nissho, a key creditor, and fell short of the required funds by around $75,000. In an attempt to rectify this situation, a summit was held with Knight and his team to plan out a strategy.

Legal Entanglements

The company was also in hot water with the FBI suspecting financial irregularities, triggering an investigation. However, in a surprising turn events, Nissho not only paid off Blue Ribbon's debt but also defended the company, sparing it from further investigation by the bank.

Birth of A Legacy Amidst Tragedy

Launching a Business Amidst Tough Times

Starting a company in 1975 was a stiff task as getting a bank to provide credit was wrought with challenges. Success came when the First State Bank of Oregon agreed to give the necessary support.

The Inspiring Meeting with Pre

Attending a meet hosted by his friend, the legendary runner Pre, the author had the opportunity to witness his incredible talent and sheer determination, drawing deep admiration.

Turning Tragedy into Tribute

The unexpected news of Pre's death in a car accident hit hard. In honor of Pre’s legacy and contribution to the running community, the author decided to curate a shrine where Pre's life ended tragically.

Nike's Growth Strategy

The Risks of Going Public

In the surge of 1976, Nike flirted with the idea of going public; a decision that wasn’t arrived at lightly. The upside was a large influx of capital, but the downside came in the form of potential loss of control. Nike’s founders feared being mere puppets to stockholders and thus discarded the option.

Alternative Fundraising Pathways

Reluctant to relinquish control, Nike’s founders began seeking other ways to inject funds into their steadily growing company. They considered a mix of potential options, ranging from applying for government-backed loans to venturing into new manufacturing hubs like Taiwan.

Triumphant Sales in 1976

In spite of these financial conundrums, Nike didn’t buckle under the pressure. 1976 brought with it a doubling up of their sales figures, thus rocketing Nike to household name status.

The Game-Changing Decisions of Nike's Phil Knight

Air soles: A Revolutionary Idea

Back in 1977, Phil Knight, Nike's founder got an unconventional proposal. M. Frank Rudy, a former aerospace engineer, suggested injecting air into running shoes for improved support and cushioning. Despite his initial doubts, Phil gave it a go. After a six-mile trial run, he was sold on the idea's potential.

Entering the College Basketball Arena

Phil saw another opportunity when he came across Sonny Vaccaro, someone with connections to college basketball coaches. He brought Sonny and Steve Strasser onboard, aiming to establish a foothold in the college basketball scene. The new recruits didn't disappoint and managed to secure contracts with several renowned coaches.

Navigating a Financial Crisis

A serious crisis loomed when a $25 million import duty bill arrived from the U.S. Customs Service. This was the result of Nike's American competitors lobbying for an old method of assessing duty. Phil and his team rose to the challenge, doing everything they could to keep the company afloat.

Personal Struggles amidst Professional Success

Despite rising sales and the necessity to accommodate the company's growth with a larger home, Phil's personal life was not as smooth sailing. His passion for sports didn't resonate with his sons, causing some friction. However, through all this, Phil's unwavering belief in Nike's products and brand didn't falter.

Nike's Tumultuous Milestones

Grafting the Legal Battle

In the thick of their legal battle, Phil and Strasser recruit Portland attorney Richard Werschkul, a man known for his peculiar yet intense approach. Their fight is not only with Onitsuka, but also with their own government, amplifying the battle's stakes.

Risky Factory Purchase

In parallel, the company's expansion plans received a setback. Phil decided to buy an old factory in Saco, Maine, which ended up being a disappointment and surprised the team with his futile investment.

Nike's Expansion and Fails

Nike's triumphant stride continued, moving to a larger headquarters in Beaverton, despite the unexpected hurdles. But the success was tinged with struggles. Phil began to teeter on the brink of fatigue and the launch of Tailwind shoe became an embarrassing flop, adding more strain.

Turning Tides

Even the robust Werschkul was not immune from the stress and suffered a breakdown. This forced Phil to step up and take charge of the broiling dispute with the Government.

Navigating Politics and Bureaucracy

Resolving a Financial Discrepancy

An unexpected issue arises over a $25 million import fee for Nike shoes. Despite attempts to engage with uncooperative Treasury Department officials, a satisfactory resolution appears impossible.

Aiding Politician Steps In

Desperate, our key player ropes in politicians, notably Senator Mark O. Hatfield. Hatfield, already clued-up on the situation, offers much-wanted support – a beacon of hope in an otherwise bleak situation.

Addressing Production Challenges

Away from this, there's a new issue on the horizon - production. To meet this head-on, Nike turns its eyes to China, drawing in the know-how of specialist David Chang. Chang's first impression, however, is far from comforting.

Unlocking Nike's 1980 Timeline

Asia Journey and Bureaucratic Challenges

A journey to China features prominently, with the intent of helping people comprehend complex regulations. The clever plan to set the cost of an imitation shoe low to impact import duty calculations stands out as an astute move in a challenging environment.

The Powerful Antitrust Stance

The narrative reveals Nike's bold step of lodging a $25 million antitrust lawsuit against rivals and government authorities. Negotiations of settlement offers share the tense dynamics of this painstaking process. The concluding $9 million, though hefty, marks the end of a longstanding legal confrontation.

Fear and Control in Going Public

The decision to take Nike public brings with it fear and uneasiness over the potential loss of control over the company. The solution lies in the introduction of two classes of stocks – a strategic move to ensure control while going public.

Reflecting on a Remarkable Journey

Confronting Reality

While watching 'The Bucket List' in the cinema, the founder of Nike is compelled to ponder his life. His encounters with famous individuals, such as Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, and his realization that they don't have a bucket list, make him pause.

Influence and Success

From reminiscing about his childhood, influenced by his grandpa, to guiding Nike as its CEO, his life journey is remarkable. The relationships with athletes, serving as valuable guides, heavily impacted his life.

Vital Loss and Meaningful Living

The heartbreaking loss of his son, Matthew, in a diving incident, significantly affects the author. This chapter emphasizes recognizing regret, valuing life's significance, and being motivated to convey his wisdom through speeches or writing a book.

An Untapped Pioneer Spirit

Discovering Dormant Dreams

Shoe Dog finds himself in the peace and serenity of his home state, Oregon. Despite its beauty, Shoe Dog acknowledges that Oregon isn't recognized for significant happenings. Inspired by a former teacher's emphasis on the dormant pioneer spirit of Oregonians, he experiences a personal revelation.

A Midlife Awakening

Feeling inexperienced in life, Shoe Dog is driven by a desire to create a lasting impact on the world. His self-reflection reveals an unquenched thirst for a purpose-filled life, motivating him to break free from his comfort zone and reach for the extraordinary.

A Different Path to Glory

Shoe Dog dreams of achieving sports prowess. Unable to be an athlete himself, he comes up with a bold plan to experience what athletes feel. Convinced his ambitious chase could bring joy and purpose, he bravely commits to pursuing his out-of-the-box idea.