Grow or die? Book Review of "Shoe Dog"

I recently read this book, "Shoe Dog", and originally set a flag because I wanted to read it every Monday This is a paper book, but the embarrassing thing is that there are always so many things around me, and I have to write a lot of manuscripts that are not my intention, that is, task posts. I don’t have the chance to say what I really want to say, Ling Ling Some scattered thoughts after reading finally formed the article you see today. I expected to read the book in a week, but I read it in 10 days, but this is definitely the most worth-read business conference proceedings in 2018.

Regarding this book, I think there are three most exciting things

01

Part One: Loan Operations

In line with the modern business operating model, constant loans are emphasizing cash flow. This is what every retail industry fears most, no matter what retail industry it is. , selling goods is a problem, and from the beginning, just selling other people's brands, to finally running your own brand, it can be said that it is very difficult, and many times, your company may become Behind the fate of being acquired and constant persistence is the power of the New Year.

I have spent a long time in debt in my life. When I was young and started my own business, I was very familiar with that kind of debt every night. Every day after going to bed, I wake up owing more money to others than I can afford to pay back.

But it was loans that built his entire empire.

1. "Loan travel around the world" after graduation

After graduating from college, Knight was very famous as a middle-distance runner on the college track and field team. After graduation, he did not go directly to work, but chose to travel around the world. You know, just after World War II, it was not a good idea to choose to travel around the world, but he loved sports and 10 kilometers a day was almost his lifelong persistence. At the same time, he had no money to travel. He sold his beloved car, then took out the first round of loans from his father, and used his father's money to travel around the world. Although the money was not much, during the trip, he sold encyclopedias, worked as an accountant, and then decided to go Look at Japan.

2. Loan to build "Blue Ribbon Company"

In 1964, Knight started a business, named it Le Cordon Bleu The company, the reason for which comes from his award-winning blue ribbon, also shows his passion for long-distance running. Of course, those who love running must also love running shoes. I believe that when many boys who love playing basketball and sports see AJ’s new models, they will be like girls seeing their favorite bags and want to take them home.

With this entrepreneurial capital, Knight and his former coach Bowerman each invested US$500 to establish the "Blue Ribbon Sporting Goods Company" and began to sell their own brand of sports products. Shoes, their products are produced by a Japanese manufacturer.

Knight's money initially came from his father's self-help, and then, with the guarantee of his father's good reputation, he began to borrow money from banks to run the company. Because he didn't have enough money, the first part-time employee of his start-up company was his sister, and then his college classmates and students of his coach. And he used the money he earned as a college teacher, of course, to teach accounting courses. To run the company, in other words, while taking loans, use the income from the main business to invest in the entrepreneurial income.

3. Loans are always available and loans are urgent

Because the business is growing too fast, every time it is necessary to increase production, the supplier of shoes will be half a beat slower than Knight expected. This leads to a large number of shoes in transportation, all of which are financed by bank loans. It's all on the shoes, and what's terrible is that because the sales volume is so large, every time the money is sold, it needs to be repurchased, so I am very nervous when repaying the bank loan.

Bank loan - import shoes - sell in the United States - get payment - repay bank loan - second loan from bank - second import of shoes ...The cycle continues

Because all the funds were invested in shoes, and they were just a "second-hand dealer". In the few years after the end of World War II, they sold The practice of Japanese shoes is itself very controversial. Fortunately, Japanese manufacturers can make their designs. With continuous improvement, the shoes are getting better and better, but they also face the most difficult crisis.

4. From bank loans to chaebol loans

Because the business is growing too fast, and The partner got angry again and wanted to stop Knight's supply channel and prepare to change the "agent". Of course, this stabbing behavior cannot be tolerated. After borrowing money from the bank, Knight secretly found a factory in the United States to prepare himself. Production, and then separated from upstream control, but as everyone knows about loans, they are all earmarked. The purpose of your loan is to purchase shoes, but you use the money to open a factory, and the loan cannot be repaid. It was embarrassing. The bank audited the accounts, the FBI intervened, and there was a lot of commotion. Finally, Knight found a Japanese trading group, and the chaebol decided to lend him the money directly to alleviate the crisis.

5. The largest loan model - listing

When neither banks nor chaebols have the strength to support the entire huge empire, the only way out is to go public, raise funds, and borrow money from people around to develop the company. However, because Knight himself is a bit strange, shy, unsociable, and a shoe dog, He loves sports. Regarding the company's business model, several partners did not want to go public after many discussions. However, due to the company's last livelihood, they still went public. After all, after going public, you no longer work for yourself, but for millions of shareholders. Pressure and hope go hand in hand.

This reminds me of Tao Huabi, the founder of Laoganma. Throughout his life, he insisted on not letting others borrow money, and of course, he would not go public. Therefore, Lao Gan Ma is the Lao Gan Ma of China and the Nike of the Nike world.

Therefore, whether you admit it or not, loans are the only way to develop your business and yourself.

Loans from father

Loans from relatives and friends

Loans from banks

Loans from chaebol

Loans from the People

It can be said that the entire Nike empire was built on this concept of loans. When all the bankers told Knight , when you should slow down and not develop too fast, it is really because of his persistence and bravery that he has this huge running shoe empire.

The same principle also applies to individuals. Only brave people can challenge the limits of their potential.

Life is growth, you grow or you die (life is growth, you grow or you die)

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02

Part 2: Don’t rush to start a business; Everything accumulates

1. You must work hard, but don’t be anxious

When you see the loan operation part, you will be impressed by this brave explorer. Behind every entrepreneurial venture and thrilling business battle is the accumulation of many previous events. Only with sufficient ability can you see the move. Break the move!

After returning to China after traveling around the world, his father’s friend asked Knight to take the CPA exam, and then he was exposed to many corporate financial issues while working in an accounting firm. In other words, You can see how various excellent companies survive, produce, compete, and generate wealth. It's like passing an exam and being exposed to top companies in various industries. In layman's terms, it's a stepping stone to learn how to operate an excellent business.

While teaching, all his income was used to supplement the operations of Le Cordon Bleu. While he was teaching, he met his wife, who was his student. If this happened in China, it might be possible. It’s another unethical teacher-student relationship. But from another perspective, isn’t it perfect to marry the person you want to marry at the age of 18?

2. Professional skills are the core of everything!

Among Phil Knight’s people, there are two types of people who are most often employed. One is an accountant and the other is a lawyer.

In fact, in 1978, it did not mean that there were only these two types of talents, because there were no specialized footwear universities at that time. They were asked to recruit employees. Those who needed to be hired had to be Have a sharp mind, and accountants and lawyers can at least prove that they can master a complex subject and pass a very difficult test. Having advanced abilities in a certain field usually leads to more opportunities.

If you hire an accountant, you know his numeracy skills are good;

If you hire a lawyer, you know his language skills are good ;

And you hire a marketing expert or product developer, what can you know?

When he has not worked for you, he knows nothing. The basis for your prediction is only the performance in an interview. Therefore, if you put Instead of taking a gamble on strangers, it is better to choose jobs with sophisticated R&D capabilities such as accountants and lawyers.

In fact, this principle is still applicable today. Whether it is accounting or lawyers, in today's era, they are also fields that are advancing rapidly with the times. For the same reason, there is a professional Specialized skills will also open career paths for advancement.

By analogy, if you can master a certain research skill, you can expand more job opportunities. For example, many people who have studied for graduate students or Ph.D. Even if you don’t do your own job, but through years of research, you can develop a knowledge system and the skills to research and explore the essence of problems, you can also do well in other fields. Of course, it is not just learning, but also the spirit of studying and solving problems, which is the contemporary spirit of craftsmanship.

In Knight's team, the most original elite is Bowerman, his college coach. On one side, he directed all the track and field athletes to win the Olympics, and on the other It also researched and developed how to design more reasonable shoes for its own athletes to try on. After the company got on track, it still developed shoes. The "grid" on the soles now comes from Bowerman's wife's waffle maker. In order to make the grid-like soles of rubber soles, several cake-making machines were scrapped. Research and development, innovation, and destruction are all essential skills for creators. After the company went public, he still developed his own products,

Love - practice - research and development - failure - maintain love - repeat the practice process.

Every time Knight introduces Nike to others, he will introduce his coach, Bowerman, talking about his time at the University of Oregon. Running for him, he formed a partnership in his twenties, talked about the coach's mind, and bravely designed the waffle shoes. His most classic quote is:

A coward never Get up

The weak die on the road

Only we are left to move forward

03

Part Three: Faith

When Knight was preparing to enter the Chinese market and manufacture factories, he went There is a very classic conclusion when visiting China, which left a very deep impression on me.

When he came to China for the first time, he had successfully obtained orders for 1 billion people and 2 billion feet. He thought he had concluded a business and had the ability to "be at the top of the mountain and see all the small mountains at a glance" and "seek defeat alone." " mentality, but after all the busy and sleepless nights, he discovered:

All of this is not just business!

From the early days of entrepreneurship, he felt that business only pursued the profit cycle and results, but for every businessman, business is like humans making blood, which requires blood to produce red blood cells and white blood cells. And platelets, smoothly distributed to every appropriate place, as simple as daily work?

But the mission of human beings goes far beyond the basics of survival, and always strives to transcend this basic process to achieve higher goals.

For example, in the 1970s, he once defined the word victory like this:

Victory—— Winning means not losing and living. However, this idea is not enough to support his next plan in China, like all big companies:

"Want Create, want to contribute, we dare to say this out loud,

When you create something,

When you improve something,

When you convey a certain idea,

When you add some new things and services to the lives of strangers, making them happier, healthier, safer and more satisfied;

When you solve the above problems neatly and the way they deserve to be solved, and others can't, you will participate more in the magnificent human stage.

Just living is not enough, you have to help other people live more fulfilling lives. If this counts as business, then please call me a businessman! ”

From From a businessman to a person of faith:

Entrepreneurs have expanded from pursuing basic interests to changing others and even the world.

After turning into ideas and beliefs, I believe that this is not only the pursuit of businessmen, but the pursuit of everyone. When you realize your personal value, what you embody is The value to this society and the world is why I admire the book "Shoe Dog".

The thoughts and ideas it describes go far beyond a simple business experience, but from a world perspective, to measure macroscopically how to become a meaningful person to the world. , that is, what we have been taught since childhood, personal value and social value are consistent, and in the future, we will become a truly successful person. ”

There are many wonderful things in the whole book, which are beyond the reach of ordinary people. For example: money is not just money.

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After completing the listing of the company, Knight went home and did some calculations. His partners over the years have become brothers. Bowerman is worth $9 million, Karl is worth $6 million, Woodall, Johnson, Hayes and Strasser are worth $6 million each, and his own worth will be $178 million!

At this time, he described his feelings as, because I really hope to do it again

I can’t help but think of that. A technical staff member who founded Alibaba, because there was a wealth ranking online, said that his net worth was worth hundreds of millions, and then at lunch the next day, everyone in the WeChat group started booing him and asking him to give out red envelopes because he didn't give out enough. Instead, I was kicked out of the group. In fact, when money turns into a fantastic number, it has no meaning.

What we are doing is more of a pursuit of self-worth. Numbers are both meaningful and meaningless at the same time. They are truly Only after understanding it can you truly understand your own value, and it is not all about money's affirmation of you.

And when you can’t find your next goal in life and are dazzled by victory, I suggest you also take a look at this book.

When Knight's company went public, he and his wife went to see a movie, bucket list:

The main story is about two male protagonists who, because they are suffering from cancer, are going to use the remaining time to try all the crazy things they want to do in life and make use of every minute and every second.

After the movie started, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett were spotted in the lobby.

It’s amazing that the three people met, but. As the first in their respective fields, the topics discussed were about the place Palm Springs, how to escape the cold winter, family, sports, etc.

Others will whisper in the back and say:

Do you think those are Buffett and Gates? Who is the other person?

Knight did some calculations in his head. At that time, he was worth 10 billion U.S. dollars, and the two people were worth five or six times as much as him. Such a comparison , he immediately became at ease!

So, when you are overwhelmed by success and victory, go and take a look at people who are better than you. Isn’t there an old saying? ?

There are mountains outside the mountains, and there are people outside the people. For warriors, victory is never the end, but the starting point.

This is the misunderstanding of most people: they think that after gaining wealth, they can just enjoy life without going to work. But the truly rich have achieved financial freedom since birth. What they pursue again is personal value, which is the true meaning of survival. This is not so much an autobiography as a "Dream Guide" 》.

Through this book, you can see some outstanding people realize their dreams and help people avoid ordinary people. frustration.

During a long period of life, you need to press the pause button and take the time to think hard:

How do you want to spend your life?

Who do you want to spend the remaining 40 years with?

20-year-old young people, don’t settle down because of a job/major/career, you must seek your inner impulse, even if you don’t Know its meaning and persist in pursuing it. If you follow your inner impulse, you will be more able to endure fatigue. Every disappointment will become your motivation, and the peaks you need to climb will become insignificant!

Those who break the rules, innovators and rebels have a target behind them. The more successful they are, the more vulnerable they are to attacks from others.

Some people may say that luck plays an important role in these things. Yes, luck plays a great role, but luck is also related to intelligence and determination. If you call this luck, it is better to call it Tao, reason, wisdom, law, the Holy Spirit, and God.

The harder you work, the closer you are to the "Tao". Believing in the Tao means believing in yourself and your destiny. It is not other people's destiny, not your own destiny, but your own destiny. It is the self-definition of destiny within you.

Translated to my understanding, it is: how to pursue your inner desire and what kind of person you want to be

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Originally, after reading the book, I felt excited. Transformers 6 is about to premiere, and the director happens to be Travis (Knight’s second son). If his movie doesn’t get a good response, he will have no choice but to go back and inherit his father’s tens of billions of wealth. I can be a rich second generation with peace of mind. Well, let me show you his appearance:

Just like the American version of Wang Sicong, even though he has a rich family background, he still works hard to make progress. , find your own value.

"Bumblebee" is scheduled to be released in North America on December 21st

The film is produced by "The Devil" The director of "The Legend of Strings" is also the founder of Laika Studio, a rising star in the animated film industry, and directed by Travis Knight ("The Legend of Strings" and "Corpse Bride");

Knight’s father is the founder of Nike, a veritable rich second generation

So, we really have to think about it Let’s take a look:

What does financial freedom mean?

What do you want to do when you are truly free?

04

Afterthoughts

After reading the entire book, I started to read the recommendation preface of the article. Because I had already chosen this book, so there was no Read the recommendations carefully, but when you read this book and read other people's recommendations, you will get a buzz.

In the recommendation preface of Professor Yang Bin, associate professor and provost of Tsinghua University, he writes:

Knight There is a famous saying that is often said: Cowards never set off, the weak die on the road, and we cannot stop even if we take a step forward.

The name of this book is Shoe Dog. The author only explains the meaning of this word in a story on page 203 in 1971, and dominates the "spirit" of integers. "God", let you recall the profound meaning of this word:

Not just a shoe dog, this kind of person who lives by this all his life, is good at this, never tires of it, and innovates this industry People are the backbone of every industry, the leaders who drive these industries, nirvana, destruction and innovation. They are Oregonians, Bowerman's team members, experts in the jungle, and the catalytic force for the progress of the world. They are the only people. Only then will this life be lived in vain.

Finally, let’s talk about how to read business books and several tips on developing reading habits:

1. The 28/20 principle

For business books, the essence of 80% may only occupy 20% of the pages, so you must allocate time according to your own reading ability.

2. Concentrate advantages and energy principle:

Within a specific period of time , breaking through 20 essences of content, you can also focus on reading one topic within a period of time.

3. Progressive Principle

Efficient reading does not necessarily require page numbers. Carry out sequentially, you can choose the parts you are interested in reading, and then expand to other contents.

Start with a small topic to develop reading skills, understand the text style, point of view explanation and case description, with the purpose of mastering the method. This is the most important thing.

4. Be a teacher

Take the lead and control the topics in the circle of friends, guide the topics, and teach yourself The design direction is developed so that reading can be more solid, practical and effective.

5. Recollection

Because it is impossible to read it in one sitting. When you are the second When you pick up a book for the first time, use 15 minutes to recall what you read last time. If you really can't remember, read it again. Strictly train yourself, keep recalling, and you can develop the memory habit by persisting for 50 times

6. Take notes

Don’t try to make your notes highly logical and systematic, nor do you need to have deep insights and thoughts. As long as words train the brain, write more and draw more in the blank space, and write more essays. , symbols, color bookmarks, folded notes, or even open books

This is a link in the original text, collection is not supported for the time being

You can see Notes from previous articles

7. Review notes and ppt

If you insist on writing review notes, you can Greatly improve your reading ability. After doing ppt, you can improve your logical analysis ability. Start by writing your thoughts after reading, then do five ppts, and repeat three times to write your thoughts after reading.

If you persist in reading in this way, your ability to read will be greatly improved.

8. Transcendence of Thoughts

To develop the above reading habits, it usually requires Only after six months of rigorous training and reading more than four books can you have an ideological leap, a feeling that is beyond the author, surpass the author, and try to think above the author. Only then can you improve your reading ability. Target.

And reading is not just as simple as "reading a book", but more importantly, thinking about this level, how to sublimate what you see into your own knowledge, which requires Continuous output.

I hope my reading notes can be helpful to everyone’s reading/study. If you also want to read this book, because there is no electronic version, you can buy the paper version or directly Search the Himalaya Audiobook section, so I won’t recommend it here.

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