Book Cover

Life is growth. You grow or you die.

# Review

After having this book on my reading list for years, I finally got around to reading it. It did not disappoint. The book is an intimate memoir by the founder of Nike on his life journey as well as his entrepreneurship journey. The book includes accounts of Knight's life experiences such as traveling around the world in the 60s and beautiful characterizations of people in Knight's life such as Knight's coach Bill Bowerman and Knight's father Bill, all narrated in a colloquial tone filled with idioms and quotes from famous works. It was an easy and enjoyable read.

Knight details both the ups of his life, such as serendipitously meeting his wife Penelope when he was teaching, and the downs of his life, such as being sued by his former shoe supplier Onitsuka. Throughout his adventurous life, there were several takeaways for me:

• Knight always sought new experiences and new knowledge; whether it be his travels around the world or his forays into shoe manufacturing, Knight always played the role of the student, actively learning from his environment. Even as a manager, Knight always moved people around the company to keep them uncomfortable and prevent them from going "stale".

• Knight follows many Zen philosophies; he is humble and recognizes where he got lucky such as being priviledged to have his father pay for his travels and making bad decisions but somehow surviving due to unpredictable circumstances. He advises one to forget the self, forget opponents, and even forget competition to become the best competitor.

• Knight stresses the importance of having sufficient liquid capital on hand; he compares money to blood in a human body, necessary for surviving and achieving higher aims. He especially stresses the importance of cash flow through the stories of Blue Ribbon (predecessor to Nike), where they almost went bankrupt multiple times due to not having enough capital.

• Knight's entrepreneurship journey is almost like a quest from a fantasy adventure story: an eccentric group of people accomplishing something amazing. Being surrounded by people who share the same beliefs is crucial, as belief is "irresistible" and will both propel the drive of organization and serve as marketing for customers. Perhaps the best example of an excellent partner is Johnson, who has been an evangelist since the Blue Ribbon days. The (reluctant) friendship between Knight and Johnson becomes evident throughout the book; this relationship gave Knight encouragement to succeed and also helped him build a positive organizational culture, such as having "Buttface" retreats.

# Conclusion

This is an excellent book which should be read by all aspiring entrepreneurs.

# Overall rating: 8.8

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