Shoe Dog is a memoir by Nike co-founder Phil Knight. The memoir chronicles the history of Nike from its founding as Blue Ribbon Sports and its early challenges to its evolution into one of the world's most recognized and profitable companies.
In 1962, fresh out of business school, Phil Knight borrowed $50 from his father and created a company with a simple mission: import high-quality, low-cost athletic shoes from Japan. Selling the shoes from the boot of his Plymouth, Knight grossed $8000 in his first year. Today, Nike's annual sales top $30 billion.
In an age of start-ups, Nike is the ne plus ultra of all start-ups and the swoosh has become a revolutionary, globe spanning icon, one of the most ubiquitous and recognisable symbols in the world today.
Bill Gates named Shoe Dog one of his five favorite books of 2016 and called it “an amazing tale, a refreshingly honest reminder of what the path to business success really looks like. It’s a messy, perilous, and chaotic journey, riddled with mistakes, endless struggles, and sacrifice. Phil Knight opens up in ways few CEOs are willing to do.
