Shoe Dog

Why it’s on the list: Knight’s memoir of building Nike out of a car boot full of Onitsuka shoes — a founder’s account of two decades of being one bad season from insolvency.

Where I heard about it

• Spotted at Powell’s City of Books, Portland — April 2021 (Books photo album)

• Photographed in May 2025 (Books photo album)

• On Nate Poulin’s DTC/Business reading list, posted September 2020 and saved by Kyle as I’m building a DTCBusiness reading… (tweet).

• The replies to @moseskagan — named in his thread asking “What historical fiction should I read next?” (April 2025); the full list is on What historical fiction should I… (tweet).

• The replies to @SpencrGreenberg — named in his thread asking “What non-fiction book taught you the most about how the world really works?” (June 2025); the full list is on A question for you — What non-fiction… (tweet).

Two separate crowds reached for it in answer to different questions, which is the signal worth acting on.

Connections

• What historical fiction should I… (tweet) — the thread this came out of; the full recovered list lives there.
• A question for you — What non-fiction… (tweet) — the thread this came out of; the full recovered list lives there.
• Nike
• Phil Knight — author and founder.