13a. The Power of Books

While I have taken this class before for full disclosure, the exposure to the class and implementing the things I have learned make for rereading Phil Knight's "Shoe Dog" a breath of fresh air. Having continually read about entrepreneurship outside of the class context, I have a deep appreciation for the lessons Phil imparts through his autobiography, but have come to my own conclusions to some of his life story's lessons.

The Surprise

Previously I found the surprise in the relatability of Knight's struggle to build his company. Looking back now, the real surprise is in the level of self-sacrifice and risk he took upon himself. When meeting with his financiers from Japan and realizing both had been holding back on paperwork showing just how in debt the company really was in, the ability to overcome that at the extraordinary cost of Knight's health and the work environment freeing itself from the weight of meeting the debt.

My Admiration

Phil is an incredible entrepreneur and I previously admired just how nonchalant he was when his fortune favored him. Looking at just how lucky Knight made himself out to be, I feel that there is a lot of humbleness covered in a persona of a hyped up sneaker king. He knew his origin story was an incredibly unlikely one, but he took every step as best he could without rearing his wings as high as Icarus did to fall.

My Disdain

Speaking of that Humility, I previously wrote about how his take against the antitrust bill that forced him to go to court over retroactive fees and not accepting a minor settlement rather than take the arduous risk of going for an entire pardon of his bill. I wholeheartedly accept his sentiment in making sure he didn't have to pay a penny over a shill of an attack by his competitors. What I do have disdain for is what is not mentioned in the book: the continued production of his shoes uses labor that is both exploitative and dangerous to workers. I love an entrepreneur but I love the laborer more, because while you may have the idea you sure as hell need to protect the ones who put the physical effort of manifesting it.

His Road

There is obvious encounters that Phil faced that could have left him entirely without this empire: his battle over production and exclusivity rights to the Tigers he was selling, his antitrust case over rubber imports, the several deaths of close friends and competitors who he saw as family in the Nike company. But he clearly rose above it all. He made his Japanese distributor break face over his attempt of removing Knight and Nike from the market, he battled his antitrust case all the way up and won, and revered and memorialized those deaths as to serve a reminder that we all should take what we have and appreciate it to the last drop.

His Secret Sauce

Phil had a lot of qualities that lended themselves well to being an entrepreneur, but the one I feel is the most relevant one to his success was his charisma. He charmed his way to a deal with his Japanese shoe producers that started it all, he charmed his way into deals with the top athletes at the time who broke records in his shoes, and he did it all with a smile and non-condescending "F#%k you" when necessary.

I Was Lost

The one thing I felt that left me a little lost on the reread was Knight's focus on understanding the Japanese when it came to business. From what we learn in this class it makes total sense to make a prototypical consumer to customize and tailor ones service or product to meet their needs, but the need to understand the distributors was a little strange especially in the roundabout way of asking people who aren't directly connected with the culture. I may be wrong but it feels Phil could've made business easier without having to worry about the Japanese being complicated since he still faced challenges even with his persuasion.

What Would I Ask?

1. If you had to start in todays world, would you still aim for the world mass culture appeal, or would taking a niche, boutique route in an expansive and diverse market be a smarter option?

2. If you knew how big Nike would be now back then, what is the one singular thing you would do differently?

Hard work?

I do think that Phil and I would have an agreement to what hard work may be and entail, but I personally do not feel the compelling to work with over 100 percent effort to get what I want. I feel that there is always a form of safety and recovery in creating a venture that you feel passionate about. The level of self sacrifice Knight went through is admirable and awe-inspiring, but the risk of ones health and happiness for ultimate success is not how I envision a good life even if you can fix it in the end because as Phil almost sees he could lose it all if there was a slip along any way.