SHOE DOG 

We are bombarded by stories of entrepreneurs who encountered an instant Eureka moment. Entrepreneurs who stumbled on big ideas chased their passion and became billionaires. Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Elon Musk, etc. fall into this category.

But not all stories of entrepreneurs are this way. In fact, for many others, it is not this way.

This is why Phil Knight wrote the book “Shoe Dog". He wanted to write a simple story that narrated the rise of Nike. Today, Nike is worth more than 150 billion US Dollars. In this story of a giant, so many details of its founding are lost. In this book, Phil Knight delivers the company from the myth.

Nike did not start as a grand idea that would change the world. It started simply as a school project. Nike wrote a paper in his MBA class arguing that Japanese shoes will overtake US-made shoes. When he graduated, he went around the world. In Japan, he fell in love with many Japanese practices; he copied them and will go on to use them in his life. He returned to America and began working in a bank. While at the bank, he began pursuing the idea of importing shoes from Japan. It was a side hustle for many years. Like so many years. The company had to become big before he left the banking job.

Along the way, he met so many other people who would help Nike become a big company.

Phil Knight is a funny narrator. The book was a fun read; he made so many stories come alive.

The biggest lesson from this book is passion. Phil Knight was a true shoe dog. He was passionate about shoes. He just loved to see people use his shoes. And he monetized this.'

I have observed that it is difficult for anyone to thrive in a field that they are not passionate about. Whatever happens in this life, you need to be passionate about your job. You need to be passionate about what you do.

And there is one lesson attached to this lesson: don't chase your passion foolishly. As you can see, Phil Knight did not abandon his work to chase his passion. He stayed in his banking job for many years and pursued his passion as a side hustle. You should do the same. Pursue your passion as a side hustle until it becomes a full-time sustainable engagement.

Do you have something you are passionate about? Think about creating a business around it!

I will end with this quote by Phil Knight "I had an aching sense that our time is short, shorter than we ever know, short as a morning run, and I wanted mine to be meaningful. And purposeful. And creative. And impor­tant. Above all . . . different. I wanted to leave a mark on the world."