Phil Knight
8 key ideas, each explained in our own words.
Shoe Dog
- IDEA 1
A crazy idea started Nike
Knight describes how, as a young man, he wrote a business school paper arguing that Japanese running shoes could compete with German brands. In 1962 he travelled to Japan and persuaded the Onitsuka company to let him sell its Tiger shoes in America.
- IDEA 2
Blue Ribbon began small
Knight started selling shoes from the boot of his car under the name Blue Ribbon Sports. Growth was slow and uncertain. Knight sold them at running events to athletes, learning the business slowly while he also held another job.
- IDEA 3
A coach became a partner
Knight partnered with his former running coach, Bill Bowerman, who experimented with shoe designs. Bowerman's innovations improved performance. Bowerman was a track coach who cared about making runners faster, and he tested his ideas on real athletes.
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