His primary goal was to make shoes as light as possible – a feature which would later become a trademark of the Nike brand.

To do so, he would tear apart shoes and put them back together using whatever materials he thought would make the shoes an asset and not a mere necessity. Bill was always experimenting to see how small changes in footwear would affect the performance of his athletes. When Phil had run for Bill, he was his coach’s unofficial shoe guinea pig. Such a person understands the shoe’s role in allowing men and women to stride into the future with confidence. Bill, in turn, was a genuine “shoe dog.”Ī “shoe dog” is an industry term for someone who is shoe-obsessed. For Phil Knight, this person was his former running coach, Bill Bowerman.īill’s approval gave Phil the confidence he needed to carry on with his dreams. Many people have someone in their lives who inspires them, and whose respect they value. Years later, Phil came across a play written by ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes called “The Knights.” In it, a warrior gifts the king a new pair of shoes – in the Temple of Nike. He found himself standing in front of the Temple of Nike, the goddess of victory, for hours on end. For instance, Phil was particularly inspired by the Greek Acropolis. Much of what he learned about the cultures he explored would influence him later in life.

During his travels, he found a lot of inspiration through the things he saw and experienced. Over the next several months, Phil would sell the Japanese shoes out of the trunk of his car!Īfter securing the deal with Onitsuka, Phil traveled the world. He didn’t expect the pitch to be a success, but when the Onitsuka CEO told him that his timing was perfect and asked him the name of the company with which he would be working, Phil was stunned.Ĭompletely unprepared, he blurted out the name, “Blue Ribbon.” Onitsuka then agreed to send him 300 pairs of Tiger shoes to start him off. At the time, neither his professors, classmates or even his father thought much of it.īut that didn’t stop Phil, who traveled across the Pacific to sell his bold proposition to a room full of Japanese businessmen. The idea had first occurred to him while he was at Stanford Business School.

Phil wanted to import Japanese running shoes to America and had his eye on the Tiger brand that was manufactured by the Japanese company Onitsuka. He was shy and a terrible salesperson.īut that didn’t stop him from following a vision he had. It was 1962 and Phil Knight was fresh out of business school.

Shoe dog pdf