Shoe Dog by Phil Knight

BOOK REVIEWS BY BINOD

BINOD’S RATING: 8/10

I always approach autobiographies with caution. Many of these are a waste of time, a dreary mix of bland narration of events, blatant self-promotion, justification for screwups and a dash of vendetta. So, I held off buying Shoe Dog for the longest time. But this turned out to be an outlier.

He dives deep into his early journey, with all the challenges- hiring mistakes, unreliable suppliers, skeptical family, legal battles, inflexible banks, constant cash flow issues- as well as the many highs, not the least of which was the fun & excitement of building (what is now) the most valuable brand in the world with a ragtag bunch of misfits. What is astounding is how he gives credit to others. It almost seems that Nike succeeded despite Knight.

Trivia- Knight is a qualified CPA who once worked in audit with PwC. He was also initially very indifferent about the Nike name & the Swoosh logo.

Honest, humble, funny, gracious, inspirational. It’s a story that many first-generation entrepreneurs will instantly identify with & hence a must read.