About the Author:

Phil Knight is an American billionaire businessman, the co-founder of Nike, per Forbes he is the 26th richest man in the world as of July’2020. He did his MBA from Stanford University

The content in brief:

Before getting into to “Shoe dog Phil Knight’, I would like to leave few words here. Entrepreneurship is full of uncertainty, Its a bumpy road to travel, it is a lonely journey, it is filled with lot of discouragements, it could be with debts, it may pull you down. However, to me, entrepreneurs are the people who are driving the world. I believe 5%  of the successful entrepreneurs are creating jobs for rest of the world.

Yes, ‘Shoe Dog Phil Knight’ is a typical entrepreneur’s journey. Beauty of the book is the way of story telling. Phil narrated his story with all his major life events and memories of life, he portrayed his journey from 1962 to 1980. By now, you might have understand that Phil Knight is the co-founder of the prestigious shoe brand NIKE. The meaning of NIKE is “the goddess of victory”. Phil has been very passionate, he wants to leave his footprint on the world. Essentially, Phil Knight is a sports person, one fine day while Phil running early in the morning, “What if I want to run faster…faster, and longer, of course, I need better shoes with more comfort. The idea was born, however, he was not turned into manufacturer immediately, it took a decade for him to turn as a shoe manufacturer and establish NIKE.

America was dominated by an European shoe brand Adidas in early 1960s. Phil had found a way to introduce the Japanese shoe brand, “Tiger” into America. Initially, he turned into the distributor of Tiger shoes, went well for more than 8 years. What happened after 8 years? How did he survive for eight years with distribution? Why did he pause the business and got employed as an account? Again, how did he resume back? How did he survive with debts? How many times he had travelled to Japan to not to lose his distribution contract, How did he finally turned as a manufacturer is all about the book. A typical entrepreneur journey. Worth reading.

Highlights from the book:

Bill Gates and Warren Buffet about this book.

A refreshingly honest remainder of what the path to business success really looks like…It’s an amazing tale.

Bill Gates

The best book I read last year. Phil is a gifted storyteller.

Warren Buffet.

1. Our character, our fate — our DNA. “The cowards never started”, he’d tell me, ” and the weak died along the way –that leaves us”.
2. I still hadn’t experienced anything of life. Least of all its many temptations and excitements. I hadn’t smoked a cigarette, hadn’t tried a drug, I hadn’t broken a rule, let alone a law. The 1960s were just under way, the age of rebellion, I’d never even been with a girl.
3. I have spent a fair portion of my life in debt. As a young entrepreneur I became distressingly familiar with that feeling of going to sleep each night, waking up each day, owning many people sum far greater than I could repay.
4. Today Nike is one of the most admired brands in the world with 68,000 employees across the globe.

Enjoy reading,

Yours,

Narasimha Mohan.

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