This book was recommended by an ex-boss. This is a riveting story of how Nike came to be. Phil Knight who is the author and founder of Nike tells his story. From a humble distributor of the Onitsuka Tiger sneakers to become the CEO of the world ‘s most famous sports brand. A few takeaways from this book.
- The tenacity of the founding members of Nike. Without the initial failure of his first sneaker business with Onitsuka, Nike would never be founded.
- Form your own most trusted tribe. Phil Knight will not have founded Nike without his trusted partners and a motley crew. His trusted track coach and product guy, Bowerman, who is fanatical about building the best soles for runners. His enthusiastic marketer, Jeff Johnson. His highly mobile operations guy, a guy paralysed from the waist down. His hard-drinking accountant, Delbert Hayes. His kind lawyer, john Jaqua. They disagreed, they fought, they celebrated.
- True to the Nike brand, Just Do It, the founding members did not know where they were heading in the early days. With gut instinct, grit and hard work, they just did it. They found the way.