Shoe Dog

By Phil Knight

Categories: Biographies & Memoirs

Fresh out of business school, Phil Knight borrowed fifty dollars from his father and set out to import high-quality, low-cost running shoes from Japan. Selling them from the trunk of his Plymouth Valiant, he grossed eight thousand dollars that first year. In this memoir, the co-founder of Nike tells the inside story of the company's scrappy early days and how that small start-up grew into one of the world's best-known brands.

Recommended by 13 people

• Warren Buffett
• Tim Cook
• Jason Calacanis
• Bill Gurley
• Bill Gates
• Austen Allred
• Alexis Ohanian
• Tony Fadell: “Wow - comparing Build to Shoe Dog (an absolutely amazing book) It's humbling to be in such great company!”
• Ryan Holiday
• Stephen A. Schwarzman: “One of the good books I read recently and enjoyed was Shoe Dog, Phil Knight’s memoir on Nike. It was interesting to learn about his struggle to start the company.”
• Shane Parrish: “So many people have recommended this to me that I’ve lost count. Now that I’ve finally read it, I get why. If you want to understand what it’s like to start and run a business – the uncertainty, the sweat, the stress, the self-doubt – this is among the best books available.”
• Brian Armstrong: “Memoir by the Nike founder and CEO, Phil Knight.”
• Scott Galloway: “About the best business book I'd read in a while, it's a little bit older now, but I just read it, was Shoe Dog by Phil Knight.”