In 1962, Knight decided to finally put his theory into practice. He didn’t want his business idea to fade away in the halls of Stanford. He was convinced he could make a go of his plan to import cheap but well-manufactured running shoes from Japan, and he wasn’t going to retire the idea until he had tried.
Knight went to Japan and visited the Onitsuka shoe factory in Kobe, which was producing knock-offs of Adidas running shoes called Tigers. Impressed with the high quality of the shoes and the low production costs, Knight immediately made a deal with Onitsuka to distribute Tigers in the U.S.
After returning from Japan, Knight decided to contact his good friend and former track coach from the University of Oregon, Bill Bowerman, to discuss the business idea. Bowerman was equally intrigued with the possibilities. Together, each invested $500 and used it to purchase the Tiger shoes from Japan. They founded Blue Ribbon Sports Inc. and set about selling their products.
At 26 years old, Knight began selling their shoes from the back of his green Plymouth Valiant at track and field meets across the Pacific Northwest. During the day, Knight still worked as an accountant. That is, until 1971, when business had been so successful that he was convinced he should be focusing on his shoe business full-time. In its first year, Blue Ribbon Sports sold $364 worth of Japanese athletic shoes. However, by the end of the decade, sales had skyrocketed to over one million dollars; Knight and Bowerman were in business.
In 1972, Knight decided his company needed a makeover in the form of a new name and logo. Knight liked the name “Dimension Six,” but his 45 employees didn’t. Then, one of the company’s salesmen, Jeff Johnson, suggested something that would stick – Nike – after the Greek winged goddess of victory. It had come to Johnson in a dream, and it would prove to be a dream decision for the company. Knight paid $35 to commission a new logo – the ‘swoosh’ that today has become so famous the world over – and debuted the new design at the 1972 Olympic trials in Eugene, Oregon.
That year, Nike sales reached $3.2 million. The company’s profits would double over each of the next ten years. True to Knight’s vision, Nike surpassed Adidas as the industry leader in the U.S. In 1980, the company went public, but it wouldn’t be until 1984 when Nike would make its quantum leap. That was the year Knight decided to sign a 21-year-old basketball player by the name of Michael Jordan to endorse his shoes. From there, the rest was history.
Almost overnight, Nike became one of the most recognized and popular brands in the world. In 2004, Knight stepped down as the Nike’s CEO and President, but he stayed on as Chairman of the Board and remains an important driving force behind the company.
Occasionally, Knight takes a moment to think about his success and how far he’s come since his days at Stanford. “But you better not spend much time doing that, because every six months is a new lifetime, and you’ve got to worry about what’s coming up to stay ahead of the curve,” he says. “If you want to spend time saying ‘this is cool’, you’re going to get your ass kicked.”
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