27A- Reading Reflection #3

1)      You read about an entrepreneur:

Shoe Dog by Phil Knight is an autobiography of Nike’s founder shares his story on how he founded one of the most iconic, profitable, and world-changing brands in the world.  One that really surprised me about Phil Knight is that he tried to stay out of the public spotlight for a very long time.  Many people did not even know who the founder of Nike was, and Phil Knight did not mind it that way.  Much of Nike’s history and reasoning for many decisions were kept private.  Phil Knight did not reveal much information about Nike and his personal life until after stepping down as chairman and writing this autobiography.  One thing I admire about Phil Knight is his passion for sports and desire to be a successful entrepreneur.  This mindset and desire taught the lesson that you only get a few chances to start something crazy, so go for broke when you’re young.  This shows that Phil did not believe in failure unless you give it your all which I admire.  One thing I least admire about Phil Knight is that he kept much of the information about Nike and his public life private.  Phil faced adversity when he first was interested in selling shoes.  Phil Knight wrote a paper called “Can Japanese Sports Shoes Do to German Sports Shoes What Japanese Cameras Did to German Cameras?”  Nobody was impressed with the paper, but Phil became obsessed with the idea of selling Japanese, high-end, low-cost running shoes in the US, which propelled him to start the Nike company.  He was willing to take risks and this helped him create one of the most successful brands of all time.

2)      What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited?

Throughout the book we learn about the people that made a difference in his life as well as the personal tragedies he had deal with.  The combination of the two helps show Phil Knight’s drive and ability to succeed even in times of adversity.  Using the networking connections, he was able to take an idea he believed in and with the help of some other turn it into a very successful product.

3)      Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.

One part of the reading that was confusing was that how Nike first started, and how Phil Knight made money and hired a group of his friends to start up Nike. We learned that its  better not to mix friends and business unless they ae partners.

4)      If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why?

As a sports fan, the first question I would ask is which athlete was he most excited to get to represent his Nike brand?  Athletes representing a specific brand can be proven to be one of the major reasons for the success of Nike.  The second question I would ask is when the flip switched and when he knew he had created such a successful company even through times of adversity?  I think learning about when Phil Knight thinks his company became successful would be interesting to hear.

5)      For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion?

I think Phil Knight would say that hard work would be described as giving everything you have until nothing else can be done.  Based on this book I can see that Phil Knight does not believe in failure but instead just as an obstacle to learn from and overcome.  I agree with this but it is not always easy to obtain this mindset of never giving up right away and may take some time.