Every once in awhile there is something that comes along and educates you about a particular thing that you may not think much about. I see Nike shoes everywhere, and always expected it was a brand that had been around for many years like Coca Cola or Ford Cars. However, the story of Nike is one that is very inspiring.

I’ll be completely direct. When a billionaire is writing a book, it better be a good book. Even Phil Knight said that he had about four editors working with him very closely to write the book. Regardless, this book is nothing short of a masterpiece. He takes you step by step through the story of what Nike was before it was… well, Nike. It goes until the point of Nike’s IPO in 1980 and maybe a little bit there after. It is missing a really exciting piece of Nike’s history, but maybe that will come later. Think of this as more of an origin story.

This book makes me really excited about Nike shoes. Phil Knight talks about how he saw Converse as a competitor in the early days, although he was focusing more on Track shoes back then. The start of the book primarily goes into detail about Onitsuka Tigers, known as Asics today, which Knight started selling before the company tried to buy him out.

Throughout the book you hear about the different design iterations that Knight and his team create in Nike, along with the people meet along the way.

What is a Shoe Dog?

Knight simply refers to a Shoe Dog as an industry term for someone that is deeply in the business of shows, whether it is manufacturing or otherwise.

Check out the book on either Audible (my favorite is audiobooks) or Amazon by clicking the image below.