You’ve probably seen the Swoosh a thousand times today. It’s on the shoes of the guy at the grocery store and the jersey of your favorite athlete. But who founded the Nike company? Most people can name Phil Knight, the guy who wrote the memoir Shoe Dog. But honestly, the real story is about a weird, perfect friction between two very different men: Knight, a middle-distance runner who wasn't quite fast enough to be a star, and Bill Bowerman, his coach who was obsessed with shaving every possible gram off a shoe.
It didn't start as Nike. It started as Blue Ribbon Sports (BRS) back in 1964. They weren't even making their own shoes at first. They were basically just middle-men, a startup operating out of the trunk of a green Plymouth Valiant.
The handshake that started it all
Phil Knight was a kid from Portland with a business degree and a chip on his shoulder. He had this crazy idea—his "Crazy Idea" as he called it—that Japanese cameras had disrupted the German dominance of the photography market, so why couldn't Japanese running shoes do the same to Adidas and Puma? He flew to Japan, met with Onitsuka Tiger, and bluffed his way into a distribution deal.
When he got back to Oregon, he sent a few pairs to his old coach at the University of Oregon, Bill Bowerman. He just wanted an endorsement. Instead, Bowerman wanted in.
They each put up 500 dollars. That’s it. A thousand bucks total to start what is now a global empire worth billions. Bowerman wasn't just a silent partner, though. He was a tinkerer. He was the kind of guy who would literally rip apart shoes and rebuild them using fish skin or whatever else he thought might make them lighter.
The Waffle Iron moment and the birth of the Swoosh
By the early 70s, the relationship with Onitsuka Tiger was falling apart. BRS needed their own brand. They needed a name and a logo. Knight actually hated the name "Nike" at first. He wanted to call the company "Dimension Six." Thankfully, Jeff Johnson, the company’s first full-time employee, had a dream about Nike, the Greek winged goddess of victory.
Then came the "Waffle Trainer."
One morning in 1971, Bowerman was looking at his wife’s waffle iron. He realized the pattern of the waffle iron could provide great traction on the new artificial tracks being installed around the country. He actually ruined the waffle iron by pouring urethane into it, but he created the prototype for the sole that would put Nike on the map.
Knight, meanwhile, was the business engine. He wasn't a "marketing" guy in the traditional sense—he actually used to say he didn't believe in advertising. He believed in athletes. He believed that if the best runners wore the shoes, everyone else would follow. It was a grassroots, gritty approach.
Why it wasn't just Phil Knight
If you’re asking who founded the Nike company, you have to mention the "First Employee," Jeff Johnson. Without Johnson, the company probably would have folded in two years. He was the one who set up the first retail store in Santa Monica. He was the one who created the mail-order system. He was even the one who took the first photos for the catalogs.
While Knight was dealing with the banks—who constantly tried to shut them down because they had no "equity"—Johnson was out there building a community. He would write letters to every runner who bought a pair of shoes. He’d ask about their birthdays, their injuries, and their personal records. It was the first version of a "social network" for runners.
The Swoosh cost only 35 dollars
You’ve probably heard the trivia that Carolyn Davidson, a graphic design student at Portland State, designed the Swoosh for 35 bucks. It’s true. Knight told her, "I don't love it, but maybe it will grow on me."
Think about that. One of the most recognizable logos in human history was a "meh" from the founder.
The transition from track to culture
Nike didn't stay a running company for long. The 1980s changed everything.
- Michael Jordan: Signing him in 1984 was the biggest gamble in sports history.
- The Air Max: Using visible air pockets (technology from a former NASA engineer named Frank Rudy).
- Just Do It: A slogan inspired by the last words of a man on death row (Gary Gilmore), which sounds dark, but it worked.
By the time Bowerman passed away in 1999, the company had moved far beyond the Oregon tracks. But the DNA remained. It was always about the "Oregon way"—a mix of obsessive tinkering and aggressive, almost desperate business tactics.
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Common misconceptions about Nike’s origins
People often think Nike was an overnight success. It wasn't. They spent nearly a decade on the brink of bankruptcy. Knight lived in constant fear that the banks would freeze his accounts.
Another big one: people think Phil Knight was a shoemaker. He wasn't. He was a runner and an accountant. He understood the numbers and the feeling of a finish line. Bowerman was the maker. This partnership—the suit and the coach—is the only reason the company survived the "Shoe Wars" of the 70s against the German giants.
What you can learn from the BRS story
If you're looking at the history of who founded the Nike company to find inspiration for your own venture, the takeaway isn't "get lucky with a waffle iron."
It’s about "The Handshake." Knight and Bowerman didn't have a 50-page legal contract at the start. They had a shared obsession. They were solving a problem they actually had: American shoes sucked for serious runners.
Next Steps for Your Own Research:
If you want to understand the grit behind the founding, read Shoe Dog by Phil Knight, but take it with a grain of salt—it’s his perspective. To see the other side, look into the biography of Bill Bowerman by Kenny Moore (a runner who actually trained under him).
You should also look into the history of Onitsuka Tiger (now ASICS) to see how the rivalry shaped Nike’s aggressive legal and business strategies in the 70s. Understanding the "Customs War" of the late 70s, where the US government tried to hit Nike with a 25 million dollar bill, will show you why the company became so fiercely independent.