Shoe Dog by Phil Knight: Summary & Notes

• Start before you're ready
• Believe when nobody else does
• The early years are a constant struggle
• Build a team of misfits who care
• Near-death experiences are part of entrepreneurship
• Success looks inevitable only in hindsight

• Entrepreneurs and founders
• Sports and business enthusiasts
• Anyone building something from nothing
• Memoir lovers

Notes

• Whatever comes, just don’t stop.
• Selling becomes easy when you believe in what you’re selling. Belief is irresistible.
• The first step doesn’t have to be your own product; you can sell something that exists, but is new to your area, instead (Knight imported shoes before creating his own).
• The art of competing is the art of forgetting: forget your limits, your doubts, your pain, your past.
• Lack of equity is a leading cause of failure.
• Treat jobs as an internship: Knight honed his understanding of businesses while working in accounting for PwC.
• Keeping a detailed database of contacts is the mark of a great salesman.
• Balance in life isn’t always possible; you just have to be happy with the balance. Knight worked during the day and spent his evenings and weekends building the business, with no friends, exercise, social life.
• “”If my life was to be all work and no play, I wanted my work to be play.”
• The primary principle of accounting: assets equal liabilities plus equity.
• The single easiest way to find out how you feel about someone: say goodbye.
• Knight quit his job at age 31, going full-time at his company with a salary of $18,000 per year.
• No matter the sport—or human endeavor—total effort will win people over.
• Grow or die.
• Change never comes as fast as we want it.
• The answer to poverty is entry-level jobs. International trade always, always benefits both trading nations. Business is also a great deterrent to war.
• When you’re young, think long and hard about how and who you want to spend your time with for the next forty years. Don’t settle for a job or a profession or a career: seek a calling, even if you don’t know what that means.
• When you become one of the best, you’ll always have a target on your back.
• Sometimes you have to give up. Sometimes knowing when to give up and try something else is genius. Giving up doesn’t mean stopping. Don’t ever stop.
• Luck plays a big role. But the harder you work, the better your luck.