Shoe Dog

Wonderful biography by the author. Worth reading by anyone interested in entrepreneurship or even as a enjoyable read.

Amazing book. And amazing storytelling. Short, but very well written. Cover - Matte velvety finish with title and author's name is shiny. See the video to know what I'm talking about. Thickness is of average paperback. Spine - same as cover. Binding- Regular glue binding. Floppiness - Floppy. Floppy enough that your spine will not crack while reading the book. A big win for me. Page - average novel page thickness and texture. Book is therefore light and can be read in one hand. Page count - 386(main text) Font - Average sized font. Very readable. Packaging - average. I wish they at least wrap the books in paper or eliminate the empty space in box at least before shipping. It was banging around in a big box with other books. So a bit damaged. Had to jugaad with a bit of glue. Overall - A happy purchase.

Fantastic memoir from the founder of Nike. First the good points: 1 It is a very detailed and engrossing account of Knight's journey. It reads more like a novel or a screenplay, as it contains anecdotal accounts of the key meetings/interactions that shaped Nike's founding. It keeps you hooked n you are excited to know what's next. 2 Knight tells it all, including personal negative traits, as it is. Most would keep the doubtful, negative parts out. 3 Not at all preachy as some management bios tend to become Now a few disappointments: 1 The books stops at 1980 or when Nike went public. This is a big let down esp since you are in 2016! That is too long a time to keep the reader away. So you don't get any view as to how Nike finally took over its arch enemy Adidas. No insights into the athletes that Nike is associated with. If one has to go by the period written in this book the next 35 have been even more eventful. Hopefully Knight will soon bring out another volume. 2 While Knight paints the key milestones vividly, the book does not contain any pictures! This is almost unforgivable. The reader is robbed of the opportunity to relate more closely to the characters and enjoy the ride that much more. Not sure about the reason but may be it's the strong headed Knight who did not want to part with his privacy. But a very serious error on part of the publishers! Of course its worth the read!

Shoe Dog" is not just the story of Nike—it’s the raw, unfiltered journey of a man chasing a dream through chaos, doubt, and passion. Phil Knight writes with a rare honesty, exposing his vulnerabilities, missteps, and relentless determination. Unlike many polished success stories, this memoir captures the uncertainty and madness of the entrepreneurial path. What stood out most is how real it felt—Knight doesn’t pretend to have all the answers. He just kept going. It's not just a business book; it’s a human story of grit, risk, love, and belief. A must-read for anyone daring to build something from nothing.

Good I like ! It

I don't remember the last time I read an autobiography. Perhaps, it was VVS Laxman's "281 and Beyond" quite a while ago. Ignoring my ever growing TBR list, I picked up Shoe Dog on impulse upon reading a review in Facebook. Prior to reading this book, I had no clue about the history of Nike or its founder. The book starts with the author sharing his thought process during his daily run in 1962 as a twenty four year old, quite unsure of what lay ahead of him. From that point onwards, it is like talking to your buddy and discovering his story. Simple language, no management fads, no jargons - plain description of what life threw at him and what he made out of it. Very interesting to know how the company Blue Ribbons was formed, how it became Nike, their management style or rather the lack of it - all the way up to 1980 when they went public. The best part of the book is that Phil manages to suck you into his life and at some point when I couldn't continue, I kept thinking how he is going to sort out his million dollar loan. At another stage, I was thinking why he keeps hiring accountants and lawyers to run his factory. As if on cue, he says "I just didn’t know where else to look for talent", besides "there’s no shoe school, no University of Footwear from which we could recruit". If there is a sequel detailing the post-1980 scenario when Nike grew into a monster that it is now, I would gladly lay my hands on it. In the last few dozen pages, Phil does give a fleeting view of what happened to the leadership team of Nike - Buttfaces, as they are called, after 1980. A detailed memoir like this one would be a great read. In short, I loved the book to bits. No other non-fiction had managed to keep me hooked on till the end and yet made me crave for more. You may or may not buy a pair of Nike after reading this book, but you will definitely feel motivated and inspired. For that alone, Buck, I owe you one. Just read it.

Brilliant and inspiring story. Outstanding persistence and passion for building something with a vision. Phil and the entire team strasser, Hayes, Johnson and others- inspiring story. Sometimes the biggest setbacks can turn into creating the best brand. Story of Nike during the initial days! Lovely read.

Shoe Dog chronicles the story of founder of Nike Mr. Phil Knight who built up the iconic brand from scratch. The books covers in detail the hurdles he faced be it from the suppliers, the competitors or the Government while trying to stay afloat in the business. Any other man would have given up way back but not Mr Knight. The book covers the period when the author flew to Japan and tied up with a shoe manufacturer to sell their shoes in US till Nike went public in late 70s. The partnership with Tiger shoes of Japan did not last long and slowly the company had to source the shoes from other countries before they started manufacturing them on their own. Being an athlete himself the book also showcases the author’s love for sports especially track and field events. The ingredients behind success of Nike were grit, determination, perseverance and luck. All in all its an engrossing read about the evolution of arguably the most loved shoe brand in the world, Nike – Just do it!!!

This book is a perfectly cohesive narrative telling the story of the origins, rise, perils, and ultimate success of Nike. The author portrays himself as extremely human and uncertain, and as flawed as Amy other character in the book. And yet his and his colleagues’ exceptional mature is shown repeatedly in their actions during harrowing misadventures and competitive disruptions.

It may seem surprising that a review of a “sports book” would appear on my site, where book reviews are essentially reserved for the domain of politics and economics. But that surprise would stem from a gigantic misunderstanding, for Shoedog is no “sports book.” Rather, it is a virtual economics textbook. And one every business student in America should read. Indeed, it is one a certain White House occupant should read as well. For those interested in sports, as I am, history, as I am, and business, as I am, this book was a tremendous synthesis of the three, in the particular context of describing the birth of one of the greatest brands in American history – indeed, in world history … I doubt the story of a company’s founding and rise to greatness has ever ended a couple decades before the company’s peak, but that is the genius of Shoedog. Nike founder, Phil Knight, begins the story of this iconic brand at the most embryonic of stages, and ends the story in 1980, at their public offering, despite two and a half decades of utter domination that commenced subsequently. The story of Nike to us mere mortals is Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Kobe Bryant, and “Just Do It.” But as readers of this fine book will discover, the real story of Nike took place in the late 1960’s and throughout the 1970’s, as the formative challenges that make a business took place. And if any company would become rightful heir to “Just Do It” — it was Nike. Nike has employed hundreds of thousands of people over the decades, and has created untold amounts of wealth by giving consumers something they wanted: Initially, a high quality running shoe; eventually, a brand — a belief — an affiliation. But the genius of finding future basketball, track, and golf stars to endorse the brand was a small part of the story of this company’s ascension. The genius that created Nike is the genius of this book: It focused on personnel management, on global cost synergies, on harnessing an international supply chain the likes of which the world had never seen, on overcoming legal adversity, and above all else, managing the challenges of liquidity and capital that nearly any company faces in the early innings of their existence. This is an economics book. It is a tribute to the miracle of free trade which has created more wealth than any other phenomena in the history of civilization. It is a rebuke of the evils of crony capitalism and those rent-seeking piranhas who would attempt to use government alliances to strangle healthy competition. We are living in an era when forces on the right and the left are capitulating to a childish view of globalization — one seeking to make it a bogeyman for anything and everything — and ignoring the absolutely indisputable evidence for the enhancement of quality of life globalization has created. Few companies better illustrate what matching willing buyers and sellers around the world can mean for consumers, for producers, for shareholders, for employees, and for indeed all stakeholders in a given organization than Nike. While countless others do, for it is a universal lesson, Nike is the story of a young man and his track coach creating $100 billion of wealth that has circulated across a vast, vast ecosystem, by understanding the miracles of global trade. I cannot recommend this book strongly enough for one looking for a biographical narrative version of an economics lesson, versus the academic attempts that often prove too dry. The story of Shoedog was anything but dry, and the message of Shoedog is anything but trite.

This is by far the best book I have ever read about entrepreneurship and never giving up. I have read a lot of books about people who have created successful businesses, but this is by far the best one I have ever read. Captivating from start to finish. I can’t wait to read it again.

Great easy read Couldn’t put down Shows you the ups and down necessary to become successful What a legend he was

This book is definitely a must read for all entrepreneurs. Very well written, easy to read, it describes the Nike empire birth and the personality of Phil Knight. This guy deserves Respect. For some people, I heard he was/is the most hated CEO in US because of his raise, but I invite you all to read and know what the guy had been through, and how well he manage it. What I also like, this book has no boring part, goes straight to the point, no blabla to make extra pages such as many authors is this field. 5 stars for me !