Shoe Dog

A Memoir by the Creator of Nike

By: Phil Knight

Narrated by: Norbert Leo Butz, Phil Knight - introduction

In this candid and riveting memoir, for the first time ever, Nike founder and CEO Phil Knight shares the inside story of the company's early days as an intrepid start-up and its evolution into one of the world's most iconic, game-changing, and profitable brands.

In 1962, fresh out of business school, Phil Knight borrowed fifty dollars 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 trunk of his lime-green Plymouth Valiant, Knight grossed $8,000 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 recognizable symbols in the world today.

But Knight, the man behind the swoosh, has always remained a mystery. Now, for the first time, in a memoir that is candid, humble, gutsy, and wry, he tells his story, beginning with his crossroads moment. At 24, after backpacking around the world, he decided to take the unconventional path to start his own business - a business that would be dynamic, different.

Knight details the many risks and daunting setbacks that stood between him and his dream - along with his early triumphs. Above all, he recalls the formative relationships with his first partners and employees, a ragtag group of misfits and seekers who became a tight-knit band of brothers. Together, harnessing the transcendent power of a shared mission and a deep belief in the spirit of sport, they built a brand that changed everything.

©2016 Phil Knight. All rights reserved. (P)2016 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.

Critic reviews

"Narrator Norbert Leo Butz...infuses his delivery with drama and suspense, keeping the listener engaged with each chapter. Knight claims to be a shy introvert, but Butz isn't fooled, portraying the chairman as a straight-shooting, no-nonsense leader who keeps winning because he's relentless in his pursuit of success...." (AudioFile)

Highly readable autobiography

I don't know much about Nike - aside from the fact that I owned a pair of Nike street shoes that lasted me longer than any pair of shoes I ever owned.
This book is a terrific look at the origins of Nike - the bluster, the bravado, the fear, the mistakes, everything that went in to the birth of a billion-dollar company.
Phil Knight is not always likable, but he has a way of introspection that is both charming and accessible. He acknowledges his mistakes - even big ones - with a combination of humour and regret. Sometimes the only way to proceed is forward, and that's what he's done. It's amazing that a billion-dollar brand came out of - in its beginning - the trunk of a car supplying someone else's shoes.
I also found that Phil Knight described the world events surrounding him and his little company in the early days. It provides more than a glimpse of Blue Ribbon (which became Nike), but how it had to adapt to the changing world around it.
I understand why all of the origins of the company were detailed - leaving something out wouldn't have worked - but I would have preferred more than an epilogue detailing the last 25 years of Nike. Even adding another 1-2 hours to this accessible, compulsively readable book would have been less jarring than having it jump forward from 1980 or so to 2007.
But this is a minor quibble with a riveting book with a terrific narrator.

For the sneaker heads, Butt Faces and haters

Shoes are such a simple thing. We put them on, tie them, slip them off and on, and all with little thought.

To Phil, it is so much more than that. Shoes were the rubber meeting the road, and that road has taken him on a wild, tiresome and fulfilling journey.

This book is for the bold, the creative, the spirited...not just the athlete. In short, if you have a pulse and a desire to achieve great things, this book is for you.

Una fuente de inspiración para los emprendedores,

Muestra una actitud de lucha, de perseverancia, de fé, de trabajo en equipo, muestra como hacer cosas extraordinarias con gente ordinaria.

Jackassing with shoes! Good book.

Believe in what you sell, fight for it until it is great, or die fighting. Never give up your passion.

Best Book I’ve Ever Read!!!

I have rarely been so motivated, and inspired and captivated, saddened and encouraged all the same time in the same book!!! This richly empowering book took me on an unexpected journey into the life of a man that is now a hero of mine! I pray all the best for Phil Night and he Nike Team! What a talented story teller and determined person whom we can all learn from!!

If you don’t read this book you are missing out

Book gives you a blueprint to create your own vision fo your business.

Not a step by step instructional book but a look at business mindset and how it really works and reacts almost like an untamed wild animal.

Just read it.

Amazing!!!

More Buddhism than I thought

This is a great book about the trials and tribulations of starting a business. And you get to learn about the history of Nike pre Nike.

Powerful read

A great story, but also poetic, spiritual, spirited, and educational. A huge pleasure to read.

Truly inspired! Must read for any entrepreneur.

This book (Audible edition) is truly inspiring. From the onset, it had me. I couldn't wait to listen to more. From Buck's travels, life in general and of course his business ... he didn't hold back. He seemed brutally honest throughout, which I respect and just glad he did. The book was so motivating, it has left an impact on my life already. I think about things in the book often now. I even find myself researching more and more into Nike and Phil's life ... the sheer impact this man has made on the Globe; the reach; the determination he had to make it work, with so many opportunities to throw-in-the-towel. However, he did not. And without giving away any details, that determination is what specifically has motivated me. "Just keep going. Don't ever stop. Until you get there. Where ever there is." - Phil Knight.

Profound final chapter on a wide variety of topics

Like the Story of Nike, my feeling for Phil Knight and this book was like a roller coaster. The last lengthy chapter was what grounded me in realizing that this book is profoundly important to runners, entrepreneurial spirits and anyone suffering from existential uncertainty. The story was thorough and the descriptions detailed, providing an intimate perspective. The narrator's pace and emotion kept me hanging on chapter after chapter. I love how just as you begin the final chapter, Phil makes you feel what he feels, the painful nostalgia for the first chapter all over again.