Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike
Written by Phil Knight
Narrated by Norbert Leo Butz
5/5
()
About this audiobook
Bill Gates named Shoe Dog one of his five favorite books of the year 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.”
Fresh out of business school, Phil Knight borrowed fifty dollars from his father and launched a company with one simple mission: import high-quality, low-cost running shoes from Japan. Selling the shoes from the trunk of his car in 1963, Knight grossed eight thousand dollars that first year. Today, Nike’s annual sales top $30 billion. In this age of start-ups, Knight’s Nike is the gold standard, and its swoosh is one of the few icons instantly recognized in every corner of the world.
But Knight, the man behind the swoosh, has always been a mystery. In Shoe Dog, he tells his story at last. At twenty-four, Knight decides that rather than work for a big corporation, he will create something all his own, new, dynamic, different. He details the many risks he encountered, the crushing setbacks, the ruthless competitors and hostile bankers—as well as his many thrilling triumphs. Above all, he recalls the relationships that formed the heart and soul of Nike, with his former track coach, the irascible and charismatic Bill Bowerman, and with his first employees, a ragtag group of misfits and savants who quickly became a band of swoosh-crazed brothers.
Together, harnessing the electrifying power of a bold vision and a shared belief in the transformative power of sports, they created a brand—and a culture—that changed everything.
Editor's Note
A new business book classic…
Just as Nike’s swoosh symbol is one of the most recognizable symbols of excellence around the world, this memoir from the shoe company’s founder, Phil Knight, has quickly become one of the most-lauded, must-read business books of all time.
Phil Knight
One of the world’s most influential business executives, Phil Knight is the founder of Nike, Inc. He served as CEO of the company from 1964 to 2004, as board chairman through 2016, and he is currently Chairman Emeritus. He lives in Oregon with his wife, Penny.
Related to Shoe Dog
Related audiobooks
KG: A to Z: An Uncensored Encyclopedia of Life, Basketball, and Everything in Between Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Alibaba: The House that Jack Ma Built Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Grinding It Out: The Making of McDonald's Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5To Pixar and Beyond: My Unlikely Journey with Steve Jobs to Make Entertainment History Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Trillion Dollar Coach: The Leadership Playbook of Silicon Valley's Bill Campbell Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Pursuit of Happyness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5What You Do Is Who You Are: How to Create Your Business Culture Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Bezonomics: How Amazon Is Changing Our Lives and What the World's Best Companies Are Learning from It Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Amazon Unbound: Jeff Bezos and the Invention of a Global Empire Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Invent and Wander: The Collected Writings of Jeff Bezos, With an Introduction by Walter Isaacson Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Your Next Five Moves: Master the Art of Business Strategy Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Summary of Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike by Phil Knight Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life Without Losing Its Soul Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5LeBron Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Becoming Trader Joe: How I Did Business My Way and Still Beat the Big Guys Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Steve Jobs Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses, and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Kobe Bryant: A League Of His Own Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5You Don't Have to Be a Shark: Creating Your Own Success Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Principles: Life and Work Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Leading with the Heart: Coach K’s Successful Strategies for Basketball, Business, and Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pour Your Heart Into It Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Jump: My Secret Journey from the Streets to the Boardroom Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Lead: Wisdom from the World's Greatest CEOs, Founders, and Game Changers Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Who Says Elephants Can't Dance? Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Personal Memoirs For You
The Woman in Me Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing: A Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Becoming Free Indeed: My Story of Disentangling Faith from Fear Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I'm Glad My Mom Died Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Good Girls Don't Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Glass Castle: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5On Writing: A Memoir Of The Craft Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Roxane Gay & Everand Originals: My Year of Psychedelics: Lessons on Better Living Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Counting the Cost Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Pageboy: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How Y'all Doing?: Misadventures and Mischief from a Life Well Lived Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Sure, I'll Join Your Cult: A Memoir of Mental Illness and the Quest to Belong Anywhere Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Night: New translation by Marion Wiesel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Bad Mormon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wishful Drinking Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Finding Me: A Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Making It So: A Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Beyond Belief: My Secret Life Inside Scientology and My Harrowing Escape Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Enough Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Roxane Gay & Everand Originals: Built for This: The Quiet Strength of Powerlifting Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Summer of Fall: Gravity is a bitch, but I'm still standing Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5You Could Make This Place Beautiful: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All My Knotted-Up Life: A Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Writing into the Wound: Understanding trauma, truth, and language Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Love, Pamela: A Memoir of Prose, Poetry, and Truth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Son of Hamas: A Gripping Account of Terror, Betrayal, Political Intrigue, and Unthinkable Choices Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Year of Magical Thinking Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5See You on the Way Down: Catch You on the Way Back Up! Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Shoe Dog
2,651 ratings226 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5When you hear of a big company like nike, most people's minds go straight to big money making corporation who doesn't care about people. Phil Knights memoir really captures the essence of being a small startup in the late 60's and 70's and the evolution of that company. Would highly recommend.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Totally worth my time. And glad Mr. Knight was didn’t shy away from mentioning how he treated JOHNSON and his regret or not reading his letters. Mr. Knight repeatedly took on a job when it felt like his business wasn’t going in the direction he had expected. This point of his story is very critical to me as it has helped me to decide exactly how I want to balance my business and work life. Thanks MR. Knight for telling your story.
Blessing from Nigeria1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Wonderful book, it really made me think about career and future.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Extremely deep and beautiful story telling. I feel like I was with Mr. Knight all the way and the lessons are entwined in the stories. Thank you for writing this version of Nike's story.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Phil Knight's incredible memoir reads more like a novel or a great saga. It is captivating, suspenseful, full of twists and turns and is very well written.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This is truly an authentic book, with all the good and not-so-good facts. Thanks Phil for inspiring the future entrepreneurs.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Great read! Definitely motivated me to just keep going! 10/10
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Wonderful book for anyone considering being an entrepreneur or starting a new business
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The honesty, about his hard it is to be a success.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Inspiring and compelling story of how passion, determination, and hard work lead to success!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Feeling defeated and battered by life, this book is so uplifting and inspiring that makes one's problems look small and insignificant. I would strongly recommend this book to anyone going through hardship in life.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5One of the best books I've read, great story and plot helped me further understand the creation of Nike
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5One of the best of the best, luck, hardwork n faith..
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I enjoyed listening to this audiobook. A life story which is very different from other narratives containing tones of different instruction on how to live to be productive etc.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Authentic story of an entrepreneur journey…amazing, I love it :)
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Very good book teaches you the story of Nike must read
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The things l have learned from this book are life lessons that will help me find new and better paths in my personal and work life.
Thanks, Phil for sharing your story. - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Inspiring, comforting with a bunch of great warnings. Renewed my energy to keep going
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Love that book. Really. Inspiring.
One of the best book I have ever read - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5One of the best books I have ever listened too/ read
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Very interesting and I'm not even a Nike fan. Interesting read for an entrepreneur
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This book gave me a glimpse into the factors of success for Nike
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This book gave me a whole new perspective to entrepreneurship. Super inspirational story
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Must read for entrepreneurs and dreamers. Great storytelling sprinkled with deep insights while setting the facts straight in one of the most beloved brands in the world
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Loved it so much I had to get a physical copy. Inspiring
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5it was like a poet writing poems but with low mermurs . glad I read it .
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Absolute must read story! True inspiration, that can apply to anyone. You don’t have to even like Nike, or shoes, to enjoy this memoir!
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5So much bull
60 years ago quoting exact conversations word for word. So boring when you know it’s all fake - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5One of the best books for someone entering entrepreneurship. Just all around a lot of insight.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5One of the best book that motivate to go a head even if you done all you planed before