Heard of Phil Knight? Probably not. Nike. YES. Well, turns out Phil Knight is the founder of Nike. He recently released his biography of sorts "Shoedog: A Memoir by the creator of Nike". It is an intriguing tale of how he created a $30B empire and above all such a household brand Nike - all from $50 initial funding from his father. Similar to how Sam Walton started Walmart by selling stuff from his car or more recently Jeff Bezos started selling books by FedExing them one at a time, Phil too started selling imported Japanese shoes from the boot of his car. The gripping story tells how we built his initial team, the numerous problems he encountered before he became an "overnight success". Like several successful people, he too is grounded in family and you feel so sad when you learn how he lost his elder son and how he laments that he should have spent more time with him.
This is not a leadership type book, but more a story of perseverance, sweat, blood and toil. Once you pick it up, you'd find it hard to keep it down.
No comments:
Post a Comment