NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
In this candid and riveting memoir, for the first time ever, Nike
founder and board chairman 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.
Young, searching, 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 Plymouth Valiant, Knight grossed eight
thousand dollars that first year, 1963. 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 more than a logo. A symbol of grace and
greatness, it's 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. Now,
in a memoir that's surprising, humble, unfiltered, funny, and
beautifully crafted, he tells his story at last. It all begins with a
classic crossroads moment. Twenty-four years old, backpacking through
Asia and Europe and Africa, wrestling with life's Great Questions,
Knight decides the unconventional path is the only one for him. Rather
than work for a big corporation, he will create something all his own,
something new, dynamic, different. Knight details the many terrifying
risks he encountered along the way, the crushing setbacks, the ruthless
competitors, the countless doubters and haters and hostile bankers--as
well as his many thrilling triumphs and narrow escapes. Above all, he
recalls the foundational 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 redemptive, transformative power of sports, they
created a brand, and a culture, that changed everything.
