The Nike BluePrint Positions This Luggage Company To Make Billions

“The cowards never started and the weak died along the way. That leaves us, ladies and gentlemen. Us.”

This quote from the 2016 Phil Knight memoir, captures our feelings as founders of a CPG (consumer packaged goods) company. In an era when many professional investors and novices race to to invest cash into the next tech start-up, crypto currency, or stock (which may have already peaked) the are turning a blind eye toward ‘good old’ CPG products which have healthy profit margins.

The only amusing thing about this phenomenon is the inner chuckle CPG manufacturers get when they look down at the $125 Nikes on people’s feet or a $650 handbag just purchased for a loved one as the ‘investor’ passes on lucrative investments in products that adorn the closets of everyone they know!

For the sake of explaining let’s explain the quote in detail

“The cowards never started” — These folks had an idea in their head or even had a sketch, but they were deterred by naysayers (or maybe the naysayer in their own head) who says things like — “Who are you going to get to make that?,” “It must cost a fortune to make a sample,” “I bet that already exist,” “You won’t find investors to pull that off!,” “If this is so smart someone else would have already made it.”

“The weak died along the way” — These are the folks who proved the gumption to start something, had a product made, and maybe even managed to sell some units. However varying negative factors (e.g. lack of product market fit, lack of capital networks, improper management, or sheer laziness) prevent many entrepreneurs vision from making it to the next chapter. A chapter of that can be filled with success and impact.

Phil Knight is a visionary with the tenacity to keep pushing, to expand innovation, to build a strong team, and to reinvest in the vision of Nike!

Nike was successful despite the uphill battle they fought to become market dominant for 56 years later and counting. Here are the lessons we learned from them:

• Build international business relations + diverse supply chain. Early on in Phil Knight’s career he decided to invest in himself by traveling around the world to explore culture. After visiting numerous countries including Japan, and learning the culture(s), he soon realized that the shoes produced by Tiger would have a larger market presence in the USA with the right sales team and innovations. Knight compared labor costs in Germany to Japan, noting that it was cost prohibitive to produce in Japan than in Germany. Even though runners considered the original Tiger shoe inferior, Knight was undeterred, realizing - margins for innovation and improvement will generate better products and conversely increased revenue. His innovation coupled with manufacturing efficiencies led to game-changing improvements for the entire footwear industry. This is only possible when innovation meets a healthy manufacturing supply chain.
• Manage Cash Flows. In the early years (Blue Ribbon Sports) Knight had serious cash flow problems that only stopped after Nike IPO’d in 1980. A hands-on businessman, Knight constantly sought out financing to meet Nike’s year end goal of doubling sales. Knight found himself in an investment marketplace where investors were leary of CPG investments. Imagine if a few of those “no’s” had been “yes’s” — many financiers could have participated in the future value of Nike. (2018 Stats)

• Pay Attention. {Excerpt from Shoe Dog} — “I look around at all those buildings (referring to Nike campus in Oregon), and I don’t see buildings, I see temples. . . . Amid the campus buildings, along the campus walkways, there are enormous banners: action photos of the super athletes, the legends and giants and titans who’ve elevated Nike to something more than a brand.

Jordan.

Kobe.

Tiger.

Again, I can’t help but think of my trip around the world.

The River Jordan.

Mystical Kobe, Japan.

That first meeting at Onitsuka, pleading with the executives for the rights to sell Tigers…

Can this all be a coincidence?”

This section of the book gave us chills. Knight opens up with stories about his world-trip, naming countries and sites that would later share the same names of the people that would help shape the company’s legacy.

Phil Knight’s greatness lies not only in his ability to innovate but also in his ability to become one with the world around him. To welcome the signs, visions, and aspects of the world that are more often than not overlooked for the sake of “time and patience”. This is the greatness he embodied.

The fruits from the Goddess of Victory (Nike definition) are destined for the person who is paying attention, living life, and embracing all that he/she witnesses in the beauty and rhythm of life. By paying attention we can manifest our visions from cerebral to physical.

• Build a business that you are passionate about. This lesson is simple. If the work makes you want to tap into a higher level of yourself then that’s what you should be doing! The passion for the work must show up in conversations with strangers. The passion for the work must extend from your last thoughts before going to sleep to your dreams to the first thoughts you have in the morning after thanking God for another day. The passion for the work must manifest itself in an invigorated you that operates at a higher capacity.

• Build Legacy & Build Businesses That Hold Their Value. In Shoe Dog, Knight shares a story from 2005 when Lebron James gifted him a Rolex made in 1972: the same year of NIKE’s founding. This watch is engraved: Thanks for taking a chance on me. Knight goes on to state that making a bet on James was a “sure thing”.

James’ gesture closes out the lessons the book offers. This lesson teaches us that in order to build a business that has endurance, integrity, and value we must think about the customers we haven’t even met yet! James wasn’t even born in 1972 when NIKE was formed or when that Rolex was cast; however, both brands built something that would last and could be passed down from generation to generation.

Building something sustainable is great business. It’s all about the long game!

Salute to Phil Knight, his hardworking co-founders, and talented staff for building an empire.

Hope you enjoyed our Shoe Dog book review.

Cheers,

Talib Graves-Manns & Christopher Tuning (Founders - Life on Autopilot (We produce the leader Cap Carrier, SkyCap)

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We were first introduced to the business world of Nike in 2009 when Co-Founder Talib Graves-Manns visited Portland and Eugene Oregon.

Visiting Widen + Kennedy Ad Agency & University of Oregon (Nike Town)