Phil Knight
Put everything he had on importing Japanese running shoes and sold them out of his car. That became Nike.
The move
1964. Phil Knight and coach Bill Bowerman start Blue Ribbon Sports, importing Onitsuka Tigers from Japan. Paid for with maxed-out personal credit and a bank balance that was always one cancelled invoice from collapse. Knight kept his day job as an accountant for years. Put his own name on every loan. When the Japanese partner threatened to cut them off in 1971, they made up a new brand overnight. Nike.
Then they bet everything on stories. Pre. Then Air Jordan. Then "Just Do It."
Why it was risky
Banks wouldn't lend. Suppliers kept threatening to walk. Cash was razor thin. Most of the growth was paid for with loans Knight had personally guaranteed and couldn't repay if one shipment got stuck in customs. Adidas, Puma and Converse already owned the shops worldwide. Picking a fight with all three from a station wagon in Beaverton was mad.
Every smart person told them to slow down. They sped up.
What it looked like
EVIDENCE 01 / NIKE, JUST DO IT / 1988
The numbers
Pre. Then Air Jordans. Then "Just Do It." Nike turned sport into culture and built the biggest sportswear company on earth, while living one cancelled invoice from the end.
The lesson
The shoes were never the scary part. Paying for them with credit no bank should have given him was. Knight ran Nike one cancelled invoice from broke for nearly ten years. Every payroll was a bet that the next shipment would clear customs in time. R.I.S.K. is for founders willing to run that close to the edge for something they believe in.
→ Take the riskRisk shape
- Mode
- UNICORN-INSIDE-CORPORATE
- Distribution
- POWER-LAW
- Capital
- PERSONAL · ASYMMETRIC
- The other system's verdict
- KILLED AT SLIDE 47
Phil Knight bet his flat on shoes. A FTSE 100 marketing director with the same idea would see it turned into "a footwear strategic options taskforce" inside a quarter.
→ See how risk actually works
