27A

1) You read about an entrepreneur:

·      What surprised you the most?

·      What about the entrepreneur did you most admire?

·      What about the entrepreneur did you least admire?

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

-      I read the autobiography Shoe Dog by Phil Knight, the story of how Nike was founded. I think what surprised me the most was that he began his business idea of partnering with Japanese shoe makers in college due to the trends he saw in foreign cars. It blows my mind that someone with so little real-world experience was able to see a potential new market before all the business savvy shoe makers out there. What I most admired about Phil was that while he worked extremely hard to become a success he remembered to mention and give credit to all of the different people that helped him to achieve this. The autobiography I read before was about Ray Croc and he was far less cordial about his business partners. It was difficult to think of something that I least admired about him but I suppose something that I personally don’t admire is taking blind risk. Obviously, that is what a lot of entrepreneurs have to do to have a high gain but it just scares me I guess. He encountered a lot of adversity and failure such as missed bank loan payments and law suits but he had a way of rallying his business associates together and coming out on top. I believe the way he treated his employees and coworkers had a lot to do with all of the hard work they poured into the company especially in the early stages. He always put a lot of trust in his associates. 

2.)   What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited? Phil seemed to have a strong sense of intuition when it came to business opportunities and partners. He was able to see a market for running shoes that was previously untapped as well as successfully recruit Bill Bowerman, his former running coach and shoe enthusiast as well. He was also highly determined to succeed.There were many times that he could have easily given up on his dream due to the communication issues with the Japanese foreign suppliers but he kept on perusing his dreams. 

3.)   Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you. I think what was confusing to me was his seemingly conflicting personalities. He was shy, introverted, and critical of himself but was still able to get past all that and take on extremely big risks.

4.)    If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why? The first question I would ask Phil is if he thinks Nike would have tanked if he was unable to recruit Bill Bowerman? Phil seemed to be floundering a bit and didn’t really seem to have a grasp on the market until his former coach joined his team. The second question I would ask him would be what he would have done if his shoe endeavors had failed? He was very passionate about running shoes as a former athlete and surrounded himself with people who were like minded, he called them shoe dogs, but if it had all gone belly up would he still stay in the market for shoes or move on to another idea?

5.)   For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion?  He was an extremely hard worker and I believe his opinion would be to work hard but to do what you love. He chose to work in a field that inspired him and while a lot of things I have read say to stay away from your passions and solely base your decisions on financial feasibility and gain potential, I too believe passion can be a strong advantage to have over your competition. Passion is inspiring and creates an environment for people to want to work hard in.