Chapter 84 - Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike
Today’s Chapter is based on the book “Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike” by Phil Knight, the founder and co-chairman of Nike.
Here’s what I have learned:
Purpose
“The two most important days in life are the day you born and the day you discover the reason why.”
– Mark Twain
At the heart of Phil Knight's memoir is a deep yearning to find purpose and meaning in his life beyond the traditional trappings of success. As he writes early on, "I had an aching sense that our time is short, shorter than we ever know, short as a morning run, and I wanted mine to be meaningful. And purposeful. And creative. And important. Above all . . . different."
This desire to forge his own unique path manifests in Knight's ambivalence towards pursuing a conventional career path after graduating from college. As he reflects, "I didn't know what that meant. Money? Maybe. Wife? Kids? House? Sure, if I was lucky. These were the goals I was taught to aspire to, and part of me did aspire to them, instinctively. But deep down I was searching for something else, something more."
The turning point came when Knight had a revelatory moment while out on a run, experiencing "that pulsing half second before winning and losing are decided" — a feeling he desperately wants to capture in his own life. As he explains, "I wanted that, whatever that was, to be my life, my daily life." This led him to pursue his business idea to import and distribute Japanese running shoes, rather than settle for a safe career in business or finance.
As Knight describes, the seed for his business idea was planted during a class assignment on entrepreneurship, where he became fascinated by the potential for Japanese shoes to make inroads in America. "Being a runner, I knew something about running shoes. Being a business buff, I knew that Japanese cameras had made deep cuts into the camera market, which had once been dominated by Germans. Thus, I argued in my paper that Japanese running shoes might do the same thing. The idea interested me, then inspired me, then captivated me. It seemed so obvious, so simple, so potentially huge."
Even as his classmates greeted his passion and intensity with labored sighs and vacant stares, Knight remained undeterred. He had stumbled upon what he calls his "Crazy Idea" - a vision that, at the time, seemed radical and improbable, but also irresistibly promising.
"At twenty-four I did have a Crazy Idea, and somehow, despite being dizzy with existential angst, and fears about the future, and doubts about myself, as all young men and women in their midtwenties are, I did decide that the world is made up of crazy ideas. History is one long processional of crazy ideas. The things I loved most—books, sports, democracy, free enterprise—started as crazy ideas."
— Phil Knight
This concept of finding one’s purpose or one’s crazy idea reminds me of what what we have learned from Naval Ravikant about specific knowledge. As a matter of fact, Ravikant cautions against simply trying to imitate or copy what others are doing successfully. This is because everyone’s specific knowledge unique to him or her.
As Ravikant once said, "The specific knowledge is sort of this weird combination of unique traits from your DNA, your unique upbringing, and your response to it. It's almost baked into your personality and your identity. Then you can hone it. No one can compete with you on being you."
This perspective encourages individuals to embrace their uniqueness and leverage their personal experiences and innate talents. Instead of trying to fit into predefined roles or following conventional career paths, Ravikant suggests that true success comes from identifying and developing one's unique abilities.
As a matter of fact, Ravikant believes that the pursuit of specific knowledge is closely tied to genuine curiosity and passion. He explains that following one's authentic interests is more likely to lead to the development of valuable specific knowledge than chasing after the latest trends or hot job markets.
"Specific knowledge is found much more by pursuing your innate talents, your genuine curiosity, and your passion. It's not by going to school for whatever is the hottest job; it's not by going into whatever field investors say is the hottest."
— Naval Ravikant
In the case of Phil Knight’s, it is fair to say that his background as a track runner definitely helped in building the required skillset to succeed in creating Nike. Not only did he understand what runners wanted in running shoes, he also had a great network of athletes he could reach out for when distributing his initial products.
"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 every day, the world would be a better place, and I believed these shoes were better to run in. People, sensing my belief, wanted some of that belief for themselves. Belief, I decided. Belief is irresistible."
— Phil Knight
Perseverance
"I'm convinced that about half of what separates successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance.”
— Steve Jobs
Underlying Knight's entrepreneurial drive was an unwavering belief in his vision and the ability to persevere through immense challenges. From the outset, he recognized that pursuing his "Crazy Idea" would require him to confront doubts, fears, and setbacks - both his own and those of the people around him. But he was determined not to let those obstacles stand in his way.
From a young age, Knight knew he hated rejection. His first rejection happened as a freshman in high school when he was cut from the baseball team. He explains that “It was my first real awareness that not everyone in this world will like us, or accept us, that we're often cast aside at the very moment we most need to be included. I will never forget that day. Dragging my bat along the sidewalk, I staggered home and holed up in my room, where I grieved, and moped, for about two weeks, until my mother appeared on the edge of my bed and said, 'Enough.' She urged me to try something else." And, that’s how Knight started his track & field career.
This advice of “trying something else” that was suggested by his mother became a key mindset of Phil Knight’s business philosophy. As a matter of fact, this experience taught him that setbacks are not the end of the road but rather opportunities for growth. In fact, his best advice to any starting entrepreneurs is to keep going and to never give up:
"Every runner knows this. You run and run, mile after mile, and you never quite know why. You tell yourself that you're running toward some goal, chasing some rush, but really you run because the alternative, stopping, scares you to death. So that morning in 1962 I told myself: Let everyone else call your idea crazy . . . just keep going. Don't stop. Don't even think about stopping until you get there, and don't give much thought to where "there" is. Whatever comes, just don't stop. That's the precocious, prescient, urgent advice I managed to give myself, out of the blue, and somehow managed to take. Half a century later, I believe it's the best advice—maybe the only advice—any of us should ever give."
— Phil Knight
In this sense, as we have mentioned above about specific knowledge, it is clear that Knight’s experience as a runner built him the perseverance required to run a successful business. Rather than letting rejection and self-doubt consume him, Knight learned how to forget about them. As he explains, "People reflexively assume that competition is always a good thing, that it always brings out the best in people, but that's only true of people who can forget the competition. The art of competing, I'd learned from track, was the art of forgetting, and I now reminded myself of that fact. You must forget your limits. You must forget your doubts, your pain, your past."
This ability to push through adversity would prove essential as Knight navigated the treacherous terrain of entrepreneurship. Whether it was battling skeptical bankers who couldn't see the potential in his rapidly growing business, or dealing with chronic delays from his Japanese supplier Onitsuka, Knight refused to be deterred.
As we have previously learned from Alex Ferguson and his time as the Manager of Manchester United, it is clear that the ability to face adversity is an important skillset in order to have success as a professional athlete. In fact, Ferguson believed that when he was examining successful athletes, he realised that “a modest start in life can be a help more than a hindrance.” In fact, he explains that many of his greatest players excelled partly due to their working-class background.
This is extremely helpful, especially for Manchester United players who are playing in front of fans with high demands and with short patience span. As a matter of fact, the main thing Ferguson looked for in players is temperance. He would ask himself the following “Would they grow or shrink in a United shirt?”
Ferguson mentions that he has coached only one player who was totally unaffected by his mistakes and by pressure, and that was David Beckham:
“You had to admire that. In a way it was a great quality. No matter how many mistakes he [David Beckham] would make (in my eyes, not his), he would always want the ball. His confidence never suffered. Otherwise, dips of that kind are innate to all footballers, and plenty of managers. Public scrutiny penetrates the body armour, whether from the public, press or fans.”
— Alex Ferguson
Furthermore, Alex Ferguson often mentioned that the recovery after losses is an important part of Manchester United’s success as a football club. As a matter of fact, the famous Class of ‘92, a group of young players that would end up bringing major success to the Club such as David Beckham, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs, came up after a series of defeats. Notably, Ferguson mentions that “I lost three FA Cup finals, to Everton, Arsenal and Chelsea. I lost League Cup finals to Sheffield Wednesday, Aston Villa and Liverpool. And two European Cup finals to Barcelona. (…) When we lost the FA Cup final to Everton in 1995 I said: ‘That’s it, I’m making changes here.’ And we made them.“
Ferguson mentions that after a loss, his first thought was always to “think quickly about what you should be doing.” Rather than being upset about the defeat, his mind would go straight into thinking about improvement and recovery.
“Sometimes defeats are the best outcomes. To react to adversity is a quality. Even in your lowest periods you are showing strength. There was a great saying: It’s just another day in the history of Manchester United. In other words fighting back was part of our existence. If you are lackadaisical about defeats you can be sure there will be more to come.”
— Alex Ferguson
Ferguson explains that, after a defeat, his feeling was always: “I don’t like this, but we’ll have to meet the challenge. We’ll have to step up a mark.” In fact, he enjoyed challenge and took defeats as a motivation to improve as a team.
He mentions that “Every time those moments poked us in the eye, we accepted the invitation to regroup and advance again. Those were motivating passages. They forced me on. I’ll go further: I can’t be sure that without those provocations I would have enjoyed the job so much.”
Network
"Your network is your net worth.”
— Porter Gale
As mentioned previously, alongside Phil Knight’s personal drive and determination, a key factor in the early success of Nike was his large network of other track & field athletes and coaches. Notably, Bill Bowerman, Knight’s former track coach at the University of Oregon was a key member at Nike. His expertise, connections and tireless efforts to improve the shoes they were distributing proved invaluable in establishing the company’s foothold in the market.
As a matter of fact, Bowerman's insights and innovations, drawn from his deep understanding of the needs of American athletes, helped shape the products Knight was importing from Onitsuka:
"Bowerman had come to believe that all feet are not created equal. Americans have different bodies than Japanese do—longer, heavier—and Americans therefore need different shoes. After dissecting a dozen pairs of Tigers, Bowerman saw how they could be tailored to cater to American customers."
— Phil Knight
Bowerman often experimented with modifications and prototypes, using his young track athletes that he coached as lab mices. His tireless efforts definitely paid off, as Onitsuka began producing shoes tailored to Bowerman’s specifications, shoes that would later help Nike to dominate the runners’ market.
This was even more reinforced when Bowerman switched hat and became an ambassador for Nike. Considering Bowerman’s notoriety as a coach, he was able to encourage some prominent runners to use Nike shoes to run at the events and later on at the Olympics. Obviously, this was a big marketing tool for Nike who eventually started sponsoring athletes to uniquely wear Nike shoes and apparels.
The story of Phil Knight at Nike reminds me of how Paul Van Doren built Vans successfully by listening to his customers. As a matter of fact, considering Vans’ emphasis on the freedom of self-expression, it was easy for it to be associated with the skateboarding culture. This skateboarding culture helped Vans to find a niche and the identity that they maintain to this day.
As Van Doren once said, “When skateboarders adopted Vans, ultimately, they gave us an outward culture and an inner purpose.”
After receiving many feedbacks from top skaters on how to make better shoes for skateboarding, Van Doren decided to create a new skate shoe, one specifically addressed to the needs of skateboarders. By collaborating with top skaters such as Tony Alva and Stacy Peralta, Vans were able to create the ultimate skate shoes, the Vans Era.
Furthermore, after hearing from skateboarders the need to have better ankle protection, Vans released another high-top model, called the Sk8-Hi, which is now one of the best sold models of Vans. It’s not hard to see how Nike’s network of runners helped the company grow similarly to how Vans succeeded by connecting with skaters.
“If you consistently deliver what customers want, you’ll cross the finish line in the money.”
— Paul Van Doren
Van Doren often believed that by paying attention to the people using your product, you can get a sense of what kind of improvements are needed. Van Doren believed that you can accommodate your customers by innovating. As he once said, “I believe our willingness to listen to customers, to let them make our shoes their own, and to do things differently than the way they’d always been done were all reasons young people started identifying so closely with the Vans brand.” As such, Van Doren’s motto was “Quality, Value and Superior Service”, and the Superior Service is done through listening.
Beyond the Book
Read "Arm Yourself With Specific Knowledge" by Naval Ravikant
Read "Turning Adversity Into Advantage" by Farnam Street
Watch "Your Network is Your Net Worth | Porter Gale | Talks at Google" on YouTube
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