"There's a lot of stuff you can do between $0 and $500 million." "If you can't create a $1 billion business, it's just not worth the squeeze for them," Delhagen said. On a Monday earnings call, CEO John Donahoe mentioned a sustainable fabric in development that "could do for apparel what Flyknit did for footwear." Flyknit hit $1 billion in sales in five years. Three years ago, five years ago, there was no way you were going to get that kind of knowledge on the street."Ī final factor: Nike has gotten so big that it's focusing its energy on the biggest ideas in its sights, things like the metaverse and film development. "They're just a phone call or a coffee away. "There are so many good people out there that have forgotten more about this business than a lot of people know," Aaron Miller, an 18-year Nike veteran and founder of SoleWorks, said. The founders and new hires include some former Nike employees who were let go in recent rounds of layoffs. Several recent founders have hired other former Nike executives for important roles atop blooming organizational charts. In addition to financial capital, former Nike executives have enviable social capital, with thick Rolodexes of former colleagues and business partners. Founders often struggle to find startup capital, but their Nike shares, which doubled the market's gain in the past decade, have given many former executives enough of a financial cushion to self-fund months, or even years, of a new venture. While he remains Nike's chair emeritus, he helped launch a company last year that provides name, image, and likeness services for varsity athletes at the University of Oregon, his beloved alma mater.ĭelhagen pointed to several factors driving the surge in entrepreneurial activity, starting with Nike's stock-market ascendancy. They're trying to disrupt everything from traditional Nike categories like workout apparel to industries like funeral services.
Pour some ingredients in a mold and see if it works."ĭelhagen is among several Nike veterans who founded companies in recent years. A lot of us channel Phil's lesson: $50 and a handshake, let's go. "It was founded by Phil, who is entrepreneurial at his heart. "Nike is the quintessential entrepreneurial company," the 14-year Nike veteran Kate Delhagen, who now works as an angel investor, said. The waffle iron Bowerman used to invent Nike's iconic waffle shoe is even on display in the company's museum. Knight and Bill Bowerman launched Nike with a handshake, a tale known by all Nike employees. Nike cofounder Phil Knight's best-selling memoir, "Shoe Dog," focuses on the company's scrappy, underdog, and entrepreneurial roots.
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