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Phil Knight was the co-founder of Nike and is currently one of the richest men in the world (in 2015, Forbes ranked him 15th) and now he has written a memorable book. In the book Running to Win (called The Brand of Victory in Brazil ) he tells the story of the early years of his Crazy Idea and the genesis of Nike , but also the story of the foundations of a personal hong kong email list and family life full of defeat and overcoming.
For the first time, Phil Knight recounts all the risks he took, the devastating setbacks he overcame, the disbelief and doubts he had to fight since, in 1963, he borrowed $50 from his father to found a company with a simple mission: to import cheap but high-quality running shoes from Japan.
Important notice: this is a management book for those who are fed up with self-help books for managers.
CHECK OUT THE BOOK RUN TO WIN / THE MARK OF VICTORY IN ONLINE BOOKSTORES
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Who is Phil Knight, co-founder of Nike?
Phil Knight is one of the most influential businessmen in the world. He is the co-founder of Nike, was its CEO from 1964 to 2004 and chairman of the board until 2016, and is currently chairman emeritus. He is 79 years old and lives in Oregon with his wife, Penny.
Check out this interview with the author to find out what the importance and relevance of publishing the book Correr Para Vencer is in today's times.
Nike is one of the most celebrated brands in the world of sports. Official sponsor of multiple sports teams around the world, this multinational has a remarkable history that remains alive and that, year after year, continues to have new chapters .
Even though Nike as we know it today only hit the market in 1971, the idea came about twenty years earlier, in 1950, in a very peculiar place: a classroom at Stanford University , in the United States , during an MBA class given by Phil Knight .
The idea of Knight , a former middle-distance runner at the University of Oregon , was to import sneakers made in Japan , using cheap labor, so that a new brand could gain market share from the German Adidas .
Between 1950 and 1970, the sports market began to take shape and underwent major changes that dictated the right time for Nike to enter the market. The market became imminent with the increase in competitions, training and even the change in the industry, which mainly benefited from changes in marketing.
Knight then formed a partnership with former University of Oregon track and field coach Bill Bowerman, and the two headed to Japan to find a distributor for running shoes in the United States . When they signed an agreement with the manufacturer Onitsuka Tiger , they put their plan into motion and began to sell an alternative to Adidas shoes in the United States : Blue Ribbon Sports running shoes .
Blue Ribbon Sports ? Yes, that was the name of Knight and Bowernman ’s company in its early days. The two partners had separate tasks that took up much of their time. Even though the sneakers continued to be manufactured and shipped by the Japanese company, Knight was in charge of distribution in the United States while Bowerman focused on analyzing the shoes and figuring out how to improve them by making them lighter.
When there was a break with Tiger , the two Americans at the head of Blue Ribbon Sports recognized that the opportunity had come to launch their own brand and to start producing footwear: this is where the brand began.
From the moment Nike arrived on the market, a true revolution was set in motion and an icon was consolidated that endures to this day: the well-known Swoosh , used as the brand's logo, became a reference symbol. Today we look back with some surprise at the price the brand paid for this million-dollar symbol: a mere 35 dollars.
Check out the rest of the company's history here in this post Nike: Understand how the most famous brand in the world works published on the Mundo de Futebol Blog .
These and many other stories can be found in Phil Knight 's sensational book entitled Running to Win, available in online bookstores:
CHECK OUT THE BOOK RUN TO WIN / THE MARK OF VICTORY IN ONLINE BOOKSTORES
AMAZON BRAZIL
FNAC PORTUGAL
CULTURA BOOKSTORE
HAIL
Public praise for Phil Knight's book Run to Win
“An extraordinary memoir (…) one of the best stories of entrepreneurship I have ever read.” – Fareed Zakaria
“Candid, funny, exciting, literary – this is a memoir for people who love sports, but above all it is a memoir for people who love memoirs.” – Andre Agassi
«A shockingly honest portrait of what the path to business success is really like: a messy, uncertain, chaotic journey filled with mistakes, constant struggles, and sacrifices. Phil Knight bares his soul in a way few CEOs would be willing to do. (…) It’s a fantastic narrative.» – Bill Gates
About the book Running to Win
