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Shoe Dog

Phil Knight's memoir of building Nike from shoes sold out of a car trunk to a global brand

Nike co-founder Phil Knight's 2016 memoir covers the company's first two decades, from selling Japanese running shoes out of a car at track meets to the 1980 public offering. Knight is candid about how close the business came to collapse, year after year, and about the bankers, partners and lawsuits that nearly ended it. Founders like it because it shows how much of building a company is stamina and nerve rather than strategy.

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