Wealth archives
Phil knight, the founder of the famous brand "Nike", has been among the top 65,438+0000 companies in the United States from 65,438+0986 to 65,438+0996. 199 1, Nike became the only one in the world.
A sports and fitness company with assets exceeding $3 billion.
Type of enterprise
Footwear.
Growth record
/kloc-in the spring of 0/985, millions of American TV viewers saw an advertisement: a basketball quickly rolled to one end of the court, and a handsome young man waiting there wore colorful sports shoes, hooked the ball into his palm with his feet and began to move with the ball. At the same time, there was the harsh noise of the engine, and the roar of the engine became louder and louder, and the young man took off. The last 10 second of the advertisement is Jordan's Walking in the Clouds. Even the audience who have never seen a basketball game will marvel at his superb skills. This advertisement not only proves that Jordan has special flying ability, but also implies that the shoes under his feet must be related to this.
In this advertisement, this amazing young man is the famous NBA sports star Michael Jordan, and the pair of sports shoes under his feet is the famous brand "Nike". Before retiring, Jordan sincerely lamented: "phil knight and Nike turned me into a dream." Nate here is the founder of Nike. He turned a small company into a big group and pushed Jordan, once unknown, to the position of a giant star.
A failed athlete
1938, an ordinary boy was born in America. Like most of his peers at that time, he likes sports, playing basketball, baseball and running. His name is phil knight. As an ordinary young man, he is very familiar with sports brands such as Adidas and Puma. Unexpectedly, it was this ordinary boy who later created a new brand.
Knight has always liked sports, and almost all his high school papers are related to sports. Even universities have chosen the University of Oregon, the base camp of American track and field sports. Although Knight likes sports, he is just a mediocre 1 mile runner. His worst performance was 4 minutes 13 seconds, and he hardly entered the ranks of world-class athletes (score 4). There are so many people just like him! But thanks to this, we won't see a great entrepreneur today.
In Oregon, Nate met his lifelong mentor, his coach Bill Ballman. Ballman broke the world long-distance running record in 1950s, and Eugene, Oregon, became famous for it. He is a man with a strong sense of career, bent on making his sports team surpass other teams. In training competition, beriberi is the most common culprit, so Ballman wants to design a shoe with light bottom, good support, low friction and strong stability, which can reduce beriberi pain and run well.
Therefore, Ballman carefully designed several patterns of sports shoes. He found several shoe-making companies, but no one paid attention to him. Stubborn Ballman simply consulted a shoemaker himself and learned how to make shoes. At a sports meeting, his athletes put on their own shoes, which were ugly, but light and comfortable, and the result was better than any previous competition.
After graduation, Knight continued to study for an MBA degree at Stanford University, while Ballman continued to work as a track coach and design sports shoes at the university.
1960, knight graduated. During this period, he mentioned in an investigation report that many famous athletes and ordinary athletes actually have the same goal: to beat Adidas and let more and more athletes wear high-quality and cheap running shoes made in Japan-Tigers (Tiger brand). After graduation, Nate decided to go to Japan to look for opportunities.
At the exhibition in Japan, Knight met the Japanese manufacturer of Tiger brand sports shoes. He calls himself "Blue Ribbon Sports Company" from America. Just when Tiger brand needed an agent to enter the American market, he gave the agent to the fledgling young man.
Nate, who got the agency, immediately found Ballman. The two of them invested 500 dollars to set up a real blue ribbon sports company, became the exclusive distributor of Tiger brand sports shoes in the United States, and started their initial business. This "blue ribbon" is the predecessor of "Nike".
Nike Huang Hui
At first, there was no warehouse, and Nate put the inventory in the basement of Nate's father-in-law's house. He and Ballman were in charge of finance and design respectively, and they cooperated very well. Facts have proved that his prediction of the market is correct. This kind of low-priced sports shoes sold very well, with goods worth $8,000 sold in the first year.
From 65438 to 0968, Cortez shoes after the reform in Ballman became the best-selling products of Tiger brand sports shoes, and Knight laid a solid financial foundation for the company's development. The company's business began to improve gradually.
Soon, the Japanese head office noticed that the products were selling well and asked them to remit money before delivery. As a result, the cost in Ballman has greatly increased, and they have to redouble their efforts to promote sales. However, the Japanese side often fails to deliver the goods on time, and even secretly leaves the first-class products for sale in Japan and sends the inferior products to the United States. Once, they received a batch of shoes in Ballman. After the customer wears it for two weeks, the sole and upper are separated. They had to submit to humiliation, and in order to maintain their reputation, they returned it to customers in time.
Even more exasperating, Tiger Brand sent representatives to Eugene and proposed to buy 5 1% of the shares of Ballman Company, accounting for two of the five directors. If this request is rejected, the supply will be stopped immediately. Ballman and Knight, who suffered from Japanese businessmen's difficulties, couldn't bear it any longer and flatly rejected this unreasonable request.
Nate and Ballman decided to start their own company. He named it Nike, which was named after the Greek god of victory. The name Nike, in the eyes of westerners, is very auspicious, easy to read and remember, and can be shouted. They soon launched sports shoes named after "Nike" and designed exquisite trademarks. Nike's famous "one hook" trademark is very eye-catching and visually attractive. It is the kind of sport that sports shoes and other sporting goods should have, symbolizing strength and speed.