Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike

Author: Phil Knight

If you are curious about the title, let me get that out of the way. Shoe god refers to a person who "devotes himself completely to the making, selling, buying and designing of shoes.”  From the start of the book it is clear that Phil Knight is a self-professed shoe dog. What was revealing to me was how difficult it was to start his business back in the sixties. The first few chapters describe the life of a “man with a start-up company living on a shoestring budget”. I had no idea that starting a company and running it could have been so different back then. 

For example, Phil describes the many times his bankers gave him grief that he was growing too fast. This notion seems completely foreign in comparison to today’s startups where, often-times, the only thing that matters is how fast your user-base is growing. It doesn’t matter if you are bringing in revenue or are profitable. All that counts is that you have a user base that is growing exponentially. Unfortunately, the world in which Nike was establishing itself was completely different than the one we inhabit today.

Early on in the book it is clear that Phil is passionate about shoes. His whole life revolves around his business and the people he works with. There are many a lesson for folks who want to start their own company. There is no substitute for passion and it is important to hire people who are like-minded and have the same passion as you. If there is one thing that is guaranteed with a startup is that there will be twists and turns. Nike has its fair share of them and Phil does an amazing job with the narrative so you are constantly turning the pages to figure out what comes next.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and there are valuable lessons to be learned as well.