Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike
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- Create Date：2022-08-27 06:54:49
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Phil Knight
- ISBN：1501135910
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Summary
In this candid and riveting memoir， for the first time ever， Nike founder and CEO Phil Knight shares the inside story of the company’s early days as an intrepid start-up and its evolution into one of the world’s most iconic， game-changing， and profitable brands。
In 1962， fresh out of business school， Phil Knight borrowed $50 from his father and created a company with a simple mission: import high-quality， low-cost athletic shoes from Japan。 Selling the shoes from the trunk of his lime green Plymouth Valiant， Knight grossed $8，000 his first year。 Today， Nike’s annual sales top $30 billion。 In an age of startups， Nike is the ne plus ultra of all startups， and the swoosh has become a revolutionary， globe-spanning icon， one of the most ubiquitous and recognizable symbols in the world today。
But Knight， the man behind the swoosh， has always remained a mystery。 Now， for the first time， in a memoir that is candid， humble， gutsy， and wry， he tells his story， beginning with his crossroads moment。 At 24， after backpacking around the world， he decided to take the unconventional path， to start his own business—a business that would be dynamic， different。
Knight details the many risks and daunting setbacks that stood between him and his dream—along with his early triumphs。 Above all， he recalls the formative relationships with his first partners and employees， a ragtag group of misfits and seekers who became a tight-knit band of brothers。 Together， harnessing the transcendent power of a shared mission， and a deep belief in the spirit of sport， they built a brand that changed everything。
In 1962， fresh out of business school， Phil Knight borrowed $50 from his father and created a company with a simple mission: import high-quality， low-cost athletic shoes from Japan。 Selling the shoes from the trunk of his lime green Plymouth Valiant， Knight grossed $8，000 his first year。 Today， Nike’s annual sales top $30 billion。 In an age of startups， Nike is the ne plus ultra of all startups， and the swoosh has become a revolutionary， globe-spanning icon， one of the most ubiquitous and recognizable symbols in the world today。
But Knight， the man behind the swoosh， has always remained a mystery。 Now， for the first time， in a memoir that is candid， humble， gutsy， and wry， he tells his story， beginning with his crossroads moment。 At 24， after backpacking around the world， he decided to take the unconventional path， to start his own business—a business that would be dynamic， different。
Knight details the many risks and daunting setbacks that stood between him and his dream—along with his early triumphs。 Above all， he recalls the formative relationships with his first partners and employees， a ragtag group of misfits and seekers who became a tight-knit band of brothers。 Together， harnessing the transcendent power of a shared mission， and a deep belief in the spirit of sport， they built a brand that changed everything。
Reviews
Benjamin Diskin
，
Great read about the beginnings of Nike and Phil Knight and how it can to be a full corporation。 Knight came from small time roots and had a passion and you truly feel the passion and the focus in this book。 Highly recommend for any shoe dog， runner， or athlete。
MedianJoe
，
The best business memoir I’ve read to date。 Phil Knight’s story educates， entertains， and inspires。 I highly recommend！
Kyle Warshavsky
，
Great story， good read for anyone。
Pasi Rautio
，
Tätä kirjaa oli moni kehunut。 Arvoin pitkään kahden ja kolmen tähden välillä。 Kohtuullisen mukavasti etenevä tarina ja kieltämättä katson Nikeä vähän taas toisella katseella。 Suomikin mainittu pariin otteeseen。 Joskus nämä kirjat antavat jotain myös omaan elämään。 Ehkä suurin muistutus itselle k tästä kirjasta oli， että isoksi kasvaminen vaatii riskejä， aikaa， onnea ja jääräpäisyhttä。
Lidia Ursu
，
One of the best books I ever read
Noor Kamal
，
A memoir that truly and beautifully illustrates what it takes to be an entrepreneur from the founder of one of the world's best companies。 Very personal， emotional， and full of lessons。 A memoir that truly and beautifully illustrates what it takes to be an entrepreneur from the founder of one of the world's best companies。 Very personal， emotional， and full of lessons。 。。。more
Alejandra Gamboa
，
Lo recomiendo 100% esta autobiografía me enseño mucho sobre la resiliencia del autor y como con ganas y el no rendirse puede tener un gran logro como construir una empresa tan importante como lo es nike。
Avery Hawthorne
，
4。5 stars！！ I love reading about businesses and athletes， so this was a winner。 Admittedly， this is a total “dad book”， but I was impressed with the writing and didn’t want to put it down。
Kristin
，
Fascinating。 It was a it king and tedious for me。 I felt like It was a lot of explanation and not much excitement。 All though how Nike came to be is something I’m glad I know！ Resilience。 Never giving up。 Giving everything to make something。 That’s what made Nike。
Lisa
，
I’m not really a non fiction person。 But this book was phenomenal。
Rahul Pratyush
，
More of 3。5！I picked up this book cause I’m so into shoes lately and obsession with Jordan’s and Nike made me read it but I was left a bit disappointed maybe （Idk）。This book is more about Phil knight’s struggles of shaping an idea into a business and more about the legalities he faced during the making of this billion dollar company。 I throughly enjoyed the first half of it when the business was getting started and the obstacles kept coming but once it got into legalities and the politics of the More of 3。5！I picked up this book cause I’m so into shoes lately and obsession with Jordan’s and Nike made me read it but I was left a bit disappointed maybe （Idk）。This book is more about Phil knight’s struggles of shaping an idea into a business and more about the legalities he faced during the making of this billion dollar company。 I throughly enjoyed the first half of it when the business was getting started and the obstacles kept coming but once it got into legalities and the politics of the business then it lost my attention。 Still I’ll recommend it to those who loves memoirs or are into shoes cause this is a story one sneakerhead should know about。 。。。more
Mark Barnes
，
Filled with inspirational stories and insightful business strategies， Shoe Dog is perfect for anyone who enjoys memoirs and personal or professional growth books。 The conclusion alone is worth the money。 Fantastic！ I’ll read it again。
Fehreen Khan
，
It was great to learn how it all started and how what was once Blue Ribbon working as a representative of Onitsuka， became the most well known sports brand in the world。 This book discusses it all from lawsuits， branding，marketing， selling， networking and financing。
Michael Perry
，
Great story。 I came into knowing nothing about Nike beyond the fact that their a huge brand。 Hearing the story， the way they came from nothing to take on the powerhouse of Adidas - really fun stuff。 I’m a business geek and love these types of stories and also own a small business so I can relate to the fear of not making payments or payroll and many other struggles Knight and his crew faced。 This is partially why I think the book resonated with me so strongly and why I gave it an easy 5 stars :）
Soheil
，
بزرگترین کسب و کارها و باهوشترین افراد هم در کارهاشون به مشکل برمیخورن اما هنر همین کنار زدن موانعه。 در دنیای تجارت و کسب و کار، انتهای وجود نداره بلکه هدف همون مسیریه که ایده از روز اول شروع میکنه。مشکلات همیشه هستن اما یک ایده خوب توسط یک شخص پای کار، جسور و بیباک و با همراهی یک تیم خوب به سرانجامش میرسه…
Aldi Kabulov
，
A charming story and a fascinating insight into the history of one of the world's biggest sportswear manufacturers。 A charming story and a fascinating insight into the history of one of the world's biggest sportswear manufacturers。 。。。more
Rachelle Willie
，
4 1/2 ⭐️’s - what a read！ The determination and grit it took Phil Knight and the rest of the early Nike employees to get to where Nike is today is quite a wild ride。 What a ride。 Excellent memoir！
Sujal Bisani
，
Goal: To learn from the mind of greatest entrepreneur that there was。Summary: The biggest learning form the book is to pursue a crazy idea like crazy till the end。
Alyssa Woern
，
Tells Knights whole story of how he started the business “Nike”。 Also tells about all of the hardships he went through to start up his business， and now shows how successful he was at the end。
Nick Popa
，
Not usually a fan of this type of powerhouse CEO type of memoir， but this one stuck with me and will probably stick for a while。 I'm also successfully using it for my Business English classes， so， for this purpose at least， it's a must have。 "Starting my own business was the only thing that made life’s other risks—marriage， Vegas， alligator wrestling—seem like sure things。 But my hope was that when I failed， if I failed， I’d fail quickly， so I’d have enough time， enough years， to implement all t Not usually a fan of this type of powerhouse CEO type of memoir， but this one stuck with me and will probably stick for a while。 I'm also successfully using it for my Business English classes， so， for this purpose at least， it's a must have。 "Starting my own business was the only thing that made life’s other risks—marriage， Vegas， alligator wrestling—seem like sure things。 But my hope was that when I failed， if I failed， I’d fail quickly， so I’d have enough time， enough years， to implement all the hard-won lessons。 I wasn’t much for setting goals， but this goal kept flashing through my mind every day， until it became my internal chant: Fail fast。" （Knight， Shoe Dog， 81）Just read it！ 。。。more
Salvador Mathias
，
Inspirador， fascinante e obrigatório。A vida e a verdadeira história da Nike na primeira pessoa， de como se tornou uma das maiores empresas de sempre e ultrapassou toda a concorrência。 De uma maneira fácil e lúdica， Phil Knight conta-nos tudo （o bom， o mau e o péssimo）， aconselha-nos e explica-nos o key success factors: pessoas， pessoas， pessoas。 E arriscar！
Trish Honch
，
Greetings and hello！I am an interstellar talent scout of the Castor MovingGroup Network。 You may call me Glorbalorbl。 Myhome is in the Zubenelgenubi system， a multi-starneighborhood which lies conveniently close to yourhome system's ecliptic plane。 As a result of thisgeometric convenience， us Zubenelgenubians havelong been capable of analyzing your home planetusing techniques like the TTV method familiar toyou， and we are even fully capable of directspectroscopic analysis of your atmosphere， but Greetings and hello！I am an interstellar talent scout of the Castor MovingGroup Network。 You may call me Glorbalorbl。 Myhome is in the Zubenelgenubi system， a multi-starneighborhood which lies conveniently close to yourhome system's ecliptic plane。 As a result of thisgeometric convenience， us Zubenelgenubians havelong been capable of analyzing your home planetusing techniques like the TTV method familiar toyou， and we are even fully capable of directspectroscopic analysis of your atmosphere， but evenif we were limited to your primitive methods， orlimited to one star system， we would still haveknown about your biosphere since long before yourparticular species showed up on the scene， becausewe are a much older civilization that has migratedinto the area from elsewhere in the galaxy。We have occasionally glanced your way in curiositysince before the first campfires began dotting thedark side of your planet。 Upon observing yourbehaviors as you developed your unique identityamong the lifeforms of your world， we quickly knewthat you showed a lot of promise， but alsopossessed many problematic qualities。 As for thesetroublesome characteristics， you seemed apparentlyunable or unwilling to recognize and remedy them inas timely of a manner as we have come to expectfrom most species that we consider to be developingtoward true intelligence。We have long wanted to give you the benefit of thedoubt， noting that your home planet is as dynamicas it is beautiful。 The challenges faced by theevolution of life on your world presented you withmany harsh realities and many long threads ofintergenerational trauma。 We get it， you grew up in atough neighborhood。 You did not have the benefit ofgrowing up slowly on a fully-stable paradise planetorbiting neatly in a flare-free band of space around afully-convective star with an extremely long main-sequence lifespan， like my species originally did。。。 or，in fact， like most of the intelligent species in thegalaxy did。Nonetheless， it was frustrating enough watching theconstant setbacks that resulted from yourstubbornly persistent myopia that we decided tostop paying much attention to what was going onover here。 The last time anyone in our network took aserious peek must have been a few hundred Earthorbits ago。 Upon reflection， I must say this appearsto have been a significant oversight on our behalf，as you have experienced a surprising amount ofchange in that time interval。During a normal shift break on a routine researchmission through the local void， my colleagues and Iwere recreationally surfing the plasma veil on theedge of your Sun's magnetic field when wehappened upon a small craft of yours containingsome cute cartoons and a record that appears to betitled "THE SOUNDS OF EARTH THE UNITED STATESOF AMERICA PLANET EARTH" - as lovers of musicand recording arts ourselves， we immediately threwthat shit onto the decks and put the needle down。While the sound was a little bit primitive and mostlycontained what seemed to our sensibilities like under-produced source material captured from a singlelinear timeline， we had to admit it had some prettygood tracks on it。 Even Greglorbalor the Horrible wasdelightedly clapping his digits at times。As the resident talent scout on our mission， it wasincumbent upon me to reach out to you。 Our teamquickly analyzed the current state of your commonlanguages and colloquialisms， as well as the stateof your science。 Using that information I was able towrite you this message， and even select a fewanthems of my alien nation to share with you， whichI hope you will enjoy。 My home system， after all， isrenowned for pumping out the phattest beats in theOrion Arm。Now， to get more serious。 Some of the things I saymay feel to you like harsh criticisms， but I want youto keep in mind that if I didn't see potential in you， Iwould not bother to send you this message。 Withthat in mind， there are some things I would like youto consider。 In order to apply for galactic citizenshipand be liberated from your current state ofquarantined containment， you are going to need tomeet the following requirements:1） You must cease your habitual engagement inavoidable conflict。 This includes conflict within yourown species as well as conflict between yourcivilization and its environment。 Amongst nearly allenlightened interstellar civilizations， this is theprimary measure by which the relative intelligence ofa life form is established。 Any civilization with atendency toward violence， duplicity， sabotage， and ill-will is simply not considered mature enough topopulate beyond their native star system。 As long asyou avoid making the breathtakingly obviousdecision to work in harmony with the world you are apart of， then I must woefully inform you that you andyour music will not be welcome at any of our publicparks， or on any of our relativistic highways， or inany of our universally-acclaimed utopian garden-metropolis sanctuaries， or at any of our GalacticMusic Awards ceremonies。2） You must eliminate poverty。 Mismanagement ofresources is generally considered a bad sign whenanalyzing the inhabitants of any world。 By ourstandards， as long as any one member of yourcivilization is involuntarily unable to meet their basicneeds， including access to food， shelter， information，and care， the title of "intelligent" will continue toelude your species。3） You must transmit a new collection of your bestmusic in the direction of my home system， the starsystem you know as Alpha Librae， from between thelongitude you call 100°W and 110°W， at the time youcall 12:08 AM， on the date you call June 21， 2038。 Irepeat: new mixtape， right ascension 14h 52m 07。6s，declination 16°08'06。0"， at the moment of thesolstice closest to your aphelion， sixteen orbits fromthe time of this message， and from the part of yourplanet facing most directly away from your Sun atthe time。 This isn't an intelligence test like the othertwo items I have listed， I simply want a more up-to-date demo from you。 We will have areceiver/transmitter in position to then distributeyour message rapidly to the Zubenelgenubi systemand， from there， to my colleagues in the CastorMoving Group Network。To put it lightly， a good demo is a great first steptoward building your rapport with the rest of us， andwould make your application for galactic citizenshipmuch more likely to be approved。 If your demo isgood， and you've met the other two requirements Imentioned， then we might be able to finally inviteyou to the party。 If your application is indeedapproved， you will then have access to the collectiveknowledge of the various networks tangling theirway around the Milky Way。 That includes anabundance of helpful information about travel，communication， computation， longevity， andspacetime itself， to name a few points of interest。Good luck， Earth People。Kindest regards，Glorbalorblorlbrrgkjegrlkust6;l9[-t67/0 。。。more
Colin Cerniglia
，
This book has so many wonderful life and business lessons woven into the life story of Phil Knight。 Yes， he's super wealthy and didn't always make the right decisions （ethical ones， either） but it's still very interesting to read about the GRIND that it took to get Nike to a place of respectability， much less what we know it as today。 I'm not sure a business like his can survive the early days as The Blue Ribbon Company did。 But there is so much good packed into this book that it's one I'll find This book has so many wonderful life and business lessons woven into the life story of Phil Knight。 Yes， he's super wealthy and didn't always make the right decisions （ethical ones， either） but it's still very interesting to read about the GRIND that it took to get Nike to a place of respectability， much less what we know it as today。 I'm not sure a business like his can survive the early days as The Blue Ribbon Company did。 But there is so much good packed into this book that it's one I'll find myself reading every year or so。 。。。more
Nicole
，
Mi aspettavo qualcosa in più， sarà che forse dopo un po' i libri di crescita personale iniziano a suonare tutti uguali。。。 Ad ogni modo se c'è una lezione che porterò con me è quella che si può iniziare prima di essere pronti， cosa che verrà ancora più spontanea se la prospettiva della possibilità del fallimento diventa più simile a quella dell'autore。 Mi aspettavo qualcosa in più， sarà che forse dopo un po' i libri di crescita personale iniziano a suonare tutti uguali。。。 Ad ogni modo se c'è una lezione che porterò con me è quella che si può iniziare prima di essere pronti， cosa che verrà ancora più spontanea se la prospettiva della possibilità del fallimento diventa più simile a quella dell'autore。 。。。more
Benjamin Ask
，
An honest and insightful reflection on the life and career of the creator of Nike。 If you are an aspiring entrepreneur， a young person wondering what options there are for career or just interested in the history of the most iconic sports brand ever this is a must read。
Mike Harley
，
One of the great business memoirs
Mohammad Jarrar
，
Very good book。 Worth a listen， it’s a nice human story。 Made me laugh from my heart sometime， and cry at the end。
Revian A。 Putra
，
I would say， this is the best book that I have ever read so far。 So inspiring， how Phil Knight channeled his emotions and experiences through stories。 Very Recommended
Ali
，
made me cry。。
Jena Greer
，