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The cover of Shoe Dog

Shoe Dog

Phil Knight, 2016

In 1962 Phil Knight pitched Japanese running shoes under a company name he invented on the spot. Two decades of debt, lawsuits and near collapse later, Nike went public.

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22 parts, about 37 minutes to read.

Why read it

  • Tells how a Stanford class paper and a bluff in Kobe grew into a shoe company that began by selling at track meets
  • Shows a young company nearly sunk by cash shortages, banks that cut it off and a supplier turned rival
  • Describes the fight over customs duties, the court case and the choice to go public, with candor about the author's regrets

Who it is for

  • Founders trying to grow a business without enough capital
  • Runners and sports fans curious about shoe making
  • Readers who enjoy candid business memoirs

What the summary covers

  1. Dawn1 min
  2. 19623 min
  3. 19631 min
  4. 19642 min
  5. 19651 min
  6. 19662 min
  7. 19672 min
  8. 19681 min
  9. 19691 min
  10. 19702 min
  11. 19713 min
  12. 19721 min
  13. 19732 min
  14. 19742 min
  15. 19752 min
  16. A new bank, and Pre1 min
  17. 19762 min
  18. 19772 min
  19. 19781 min
  20. 19791 min
  21. 19802 min
  22. Night2 min

Recommended by

  • Bill GatesCofounder of Microsoft
    He tells his story as honestly as he can. It’s an amazing tale.
  • Warren BuffettChairman emeritus of Berkshire Hathaway
    The best book I read last year. Phil is . . . a gifted storyteller.
  • Andre AgassiTennis champion with eight major singles titles and author of Open
    Candid, funny, suspenseful, literary—this is a memoir for people who love sport, but above all it’s a memoir for people who love memoirs.
  • Abraham VerghesePhysician and author, Stanford professor emeritus of medicine
    Shoe Dog is a great American story about luck, grit, know-how, and the magic alchemy of a handful of eccentric characters who came together to build Nike.
  • Michael SpenceNobel laureate in economics
    A touching, highly entertaining adventure odyssey, with much to teach about innovation and creativity.

About the author

  • Phil KnightCofounder and chairman emeritus of Nike
    • Born on 24 February 1938 in Portland, Oregon, the son of a lawyer turned newspaper publisher.
    • Earned a business degree from the University of Oregon in 1959 in three years.
    • Ran track at Oregon in the club coached by Bill Bowerman, with whom he would later cofound Nike.
    • At Stanford he wrote a paper asking whether Japanese sports shoes could do to German ones what Japanese cameras had done.
    • Stanford Graduate School of Business lists him as an MBA of 1962.
    • On a 1962 trip around the world he met the Onitsuka company in Kobe and secured Tiger distribution rights for the western United States.
    • Agreed a partnership with Bowerman by handshake on 25 January 1964, the birth date of Blue Ribbon Sports, later renamed Nike.
    • Served as Nike chief executive from 1964 to 2004 and as board chairman through 2016, and is now chairman emeritus.

Read it alongside

  • Goes deeperApple in China

    Knight describes finding factories beyond Japan when the yen and labor costs rose; McGee explains how Apple's supplier training and clustered machinery in China made later relocation harder.

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