13A - Reading Reflection 1

13A – Reading Reflection 1

Book: Shoe Dog

1.     What surprised you the most?

What about the entrepreneur did you most admire?

The quality I admired most about Phil Knight was his boldness. Phil knew his passion was shoes, but his father was not supportive in the beginning and called it a waste of time. Phil pursued it anyway. He travelled to Japan by himself to pitch a shoe idea. He received a meeting with Onitsuka Co. and when asked by the boardroom what company he was representing, he made up a company on the spot. There were many times where he would be low on money to support the company, but always found a way through it. He made a bold move when he left Onitsuka and found another factory that would then make Nikes.

What about the entrepreneur did you least admire?

The aspect I least admired was how Phil treated one partner in particular, Johnson. Johnson was one of Phil’s first employees that he brought on when he was with Onitsuka. Johnson seemed to be the most loyal of employees. He worked hard and believed in the brand throughout its stages and even opened up the first store front. However, Phil would choose to ignore his letters and failed to give Johnson a heads up that he needed him to move to run a store on the east coast instead of in California. I felt like Phil was insensitive and took Johnson for granted.

Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it?

Yes, Phil Knight experienced adversity in many parts of the book. The first may have been when he settled on a deal with Onitsuka, but did not receive the prototype shoe until an entire year later! While he did not seek out a new manufacturer during that time, he didn’t stay stagnant. He worked an accounting job to pass the time. Once he knew Onitsuka was looking for a new supplier for the Tiger shoes he took it upon himself to find a different manufacturer. Also, there was a time when he tried to promote a soccer shoe for football and it disintegrated during a game. Instead of giving up he found a different manufacturer to make sturdier shoes. He never gave up, just changed his game plan.

2.     What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited?

The competency that was the most apparent and admirable to me was Phil’s knack on picking out the right people to help him build his company. He was able to surround himself with loyal people who showed true interest in the brand and believed in what he was doing. Each person was interested in taking the brand to the next level.

3.     Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.

The most confusing part of the book was trying to understand why Phil decided to stay with Onitsuka for so long. After the first meeting with Onitsuka, it took an entire year for him to receive his first shipment of shoes. All while having very poor communication. The entire relationship continued this way. Phil would run low on shoes and need a new shipment and Onitsuka would take months. Towards the end of the relationship Onitsuka was trying to find another distributor without Phil knowing. Every time something went wrong, I was left to wonder why Phil did not seek out a different manufacturer.

4.     If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur what would you ask and why?

First question I would ask is why he stayed with Onitsuka so long despite the terrible working relationship?

There was a point in the book where he has a conversation with the CEO of Pacific Power and light, Don Frisbee. Mr Frisbee gives Phil the advice of getting his CPA and MBA while he’s young so that when he changes jobs, he won’t lose pay too. I would like to know if he agreed with this advice and if its something he would suggest to other young entrepreneurs?

5.     What do you think the entrepreneur’s opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion?

There are many quotes in his book that I feel speak to his definition of hard work, however, this is my favorite,

“ Let everyone else call your idea crazy…just keep going. Don’t stop. Don’t even think about stopping until you get ther, and don’t give much thought to where “there” is. Whatever comes, just don’t stop.”

His message of hard work is to never give up. Keep moving forward no matter what and I do share that opinion.