I just finished reading "Shoe Dog" by Nike Founder Phil Knight and afterwards all I could think about was this quote
I just finished reading "Shoe Dog" by Nike Founder Phil Knight and afterwards all I could think about was this quote
"Successful people create companies.
More successful people create countries.
The most successful people create religions."
--- Qi Lu
... because it perfectly describes the ethos of Nike. Knight made running (and eventually sports) a religion for them.
So ... note to self. Don't build a company. Build a Religion.
PS: Amazing book btw. Read a copy.
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Great book, read it late last year. The first thing that struck me was the writing style. The writing is fairly poetic, especially early on. The book itself was a labor of love by Phil Knight, not just some typical CEO memoir.
Later on, what I came to appreciate was the overall sense of chaos. Nike was chaos. You never get the sense that Phil Knight was some genius who had it all figured out. There were lots of dumb decisions and unlucky moments that could've and probably should've tanked the company. And there were lots of really great things happening that almost went completely overlooked, because they weren't so obviously great at the time.
I think it's easy to, retroactively, extract a pretty narrative for any startup and how it succeeded. But when you're actually in the trenches trying to build something from nothing and you don't have the benefit of hindsight, then all you see are dozens of paths forward with no clue which is the right one to take. Or, worse, you don't see any paths that don't lead to failure.
I thought the book really encapsulated that feeling well.
I agree with you.
What I found interesting, though, was how despite everything he always focused on the culture.
He repeats several times in the book how he kinda just let people do their thing, and fought anything that tried to change that. He also, wittingly or unwittingly, made running the soul of Blue Ribbon (which later became Nike), starting right with the first shoes he sold the Onitsuka Tigers from Japan because of how great the were as running shoes right to the original partner, legendary Running coach Bill Bowerman, his first hire (eccentric but almost religious Running fanatic Jeff Johnson, and their first real icon, the storied runner Prefontaine (or just Pre).
He was very very deliberate about the culture of Nike, and in so doing he created a company that was just as fanatical about running, and eventually sports, as he was.
That's great insight, thanks for sharing!
What are some other companies that have "created a religion"? Offhand, I'm thinking Apple, CrossFit, and Peloton... any others I should know of?
Harley Davidson for sure.
I’d say when someone is willing to tattoo your company logo, you’re pretty close to religion status 🙌
I like this!
Too many to name. Soulcycle. Basecamp/37 Signals. Tesla. Southwest Airlines. Ferrari. UFC. come to mind.
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