6 ms·

Inside the Cult of Nike

53 points by pmcpinto 10y ago

Ocerge 10y ago
I'm actually surprised they let this much out. Nike is incredibly tight with just about everything. Amazing place to work though.
- eikenberry 10y ago
  > Amazing place to work though. I found it to be a terrible place to work. Highly political, bait-n-switch hiring tactics, constant re-orgs, no project ownership, lots of silver bullets... It had 1 redeeming quality, they paid well. Hated the place and so glad to have moved on.
  - kilroy123 10y ago
    Agreed! I was totally bait-n-switched when I got hired there. Was placed on a horrible team that was a joke. Got out of there as soon as I could.
  - Ocerge 10y ago
    Well, my 5-man team is great :) It's a gigantic company, so I'm not surprised. I've heard similar things about Intel.
  - erikb 10y ago
    what means "lots of silver bullets" in this context?
    - eikenberry 10y ago
      For general background if you haven't heard the term. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Silver_Bullet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Silver_Bullet More specifically they'd buy into the idea that everything would be better if they just did/bought/adopted X. And they did this a lot with everything; technology, processes, organization principles, etc. During my short time there they adopted scrum, then extreme programming, then back to scrum, they switched their development from monoliths to extreme micro-services (one verb/service), they reorganized the teams 3 different times based on different principes... this continued ad nauseam.
      - billsmithaustin 10y ago
        I'm not sure IT is their core competence.
        rch 10y ago
        Nope. That'd be marketing.
        ravitation 10y ago
        I know this is a day old, but... I'm not sure that's true. Strong marketing for sure, but I think they're more akin to Apple in this regard. Where (to use Steve Jobs' comparison) Pepsi's core competency is marketing (they rarely put out "new" products, so revenue is driven almost entirely by marketing), Nike's core competency is probably more apparel (specifically athletic) design - since, essentially, every new thing they release is a new product, and they release a lot of new things.
        rch 10y ago
        One first-hand anecdote: the women's track team at a university was given a generous sponsorship and all they had to do was wear free high-end Nike shoes. Unfortunately, the shoes caused physical discomfort for almost everyone, so the team collectively decided to only wear them in competition. My impression is that Nike apparel is designed to support the brand, not the athlete.
        ravitation 10y ago
        Would love to read more about this anecdote. Either way, I'm not sure that it points to marketing as a core competence over apparel design (though it may point the focus of the design away from the athlete).
        deleted 10y ago
        [deleted]
samstave 10y ago
Make sure you check out the Nike documentary on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/watch/80093805 https://www.netflix.com/watch/80093805
- gk1 10y ago
  And read Phil Knight's memoir, "Shoe Dog." https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0176M1A44 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0176M1A44
  - praneshp 10y ago
    Seconding this. It's a fast, one-sitting read. Very difficult to put down once you start.
  - diego_moita 10y ago
    It is a very funny and fascinating book, the kind you get stuck on it and can't let go. From the start until the IPO, Nike was constantly on the verge of bankruptcy. It is a fascinating story with lots of backstabbing, desperate moves, improvisation and insanity. It is a company created by, pretty much, manic obsession. The only defect of this book is that it finishes, you keep wanting more when you're over.
    - moonka 10y ago
      >It is a very funny and fascinating book, the kind you get stuck on it and can't let go. I made the mistake of starting it late in the day on Saturday. Chewed up my entire weekend between reading it and not being able to put it down until way too late at night. I also found the portions when he talks about his dealing with the Japanese companies fascinating.
Synaesthesia 10y ago
The way they get made in exploitative sweatshops in Indonesia for barely anything is not so romantic.
m0llusk 10y ago
What amazes me about Nike is how they are great masters of design and yet the whole barefoot minimal shoe movement has completely passed them by. If they know so much about what people need from shoes then why don't they even have any options comperable to anything from Vibram or Vivobarefoot? For me their shoes have always been aesthetically impressive and unusably uncomfortable.
- JofArnold 10y ago
  This is not strictly true. They've just not done it quite he same way. Their Free Run is flexible, light and with zero stack. It's thicker than, say, Innov8 or VFFs but they compact down. Astonishingly comfortable shoes for me and, via NikeID, the only truly wide running shoes other than maybe some models of Vivos.

53 points by pmcpinto 10y ago

I'm actually surprised they let this much out. Nike is incredibly tight with just about everything. Amazing place to work though.

eikenberry 10y ago
> Amazing place to work though. I found it to be a terrible place to work. Highly political, bait-n-switch hiring tactics, constant re-orgs, no project ownership, lots of silver bullets... It had 1 redeeming quality, they paid well. Hated the place and so glad to have moved on.
- kilroy123 10y ago
  Agreed! I was totally bait-n-switched when I got hired there. Was placed on a horrible team that was a joke. Got out of there as soon as I could.
- Ocerge 10y ago
  Well, my 5-man team is great :) It's a gigantic company, so I'm not surprised. I've heard similar things about Intel.
- erikb 10y ago
  what means "lots of silver bullets" in this context?
  - eikenberry 10y ago
    For general background if you haven't heard the term. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Silver_Bullet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Silver_Bullet More specifically they'd buy into the idea that everything would be better if they just did/bought/adopted X. And they did this a lot with everything; technology, processes, organization principles, etc. During my short time there they adopted scrum, then extreme programming, then back to scrum, they switched their development from monoliths to extreme micro-services (one verb/service), they reorganized the teams 3 different times based on different principes... this continued ad nauseam.
    - billsmithaustin 10y ago
      I'm not sure IT is their core competence.
      - rch 10y ago
        Nope. That'd be marketing.
        ravitation 10y ago
        I know this is a day old, but... I'm not sure that's true. Strong marketing for sure, but I think they're more akin to Apple in this regard. Where (to use Steve Jobs' comparison) Pepsi's core competency is marketing (they rarely put out "new" products, so revenue is driven almost entirely by marketing), Nike's core competency is probably more apparel (specifically athletic) design - since, essentially, every new thing they release is a new product, and they release a lot of new things.
        rch 10y ago
        One first-hand anecdote: the women's track team at a university was given a generous sponsorship and all they had to do was wear free high-end Nike shoes. Unfortunately, the shoes caused physical discomfort for almost everyone, so the team collectively decided to only wear them in competition. My impression is that Nike apparel is designed to support the brand, not the athlete.
        ravitation 10y ago
        Would love to read more about this anecdote. Either way, I'm not sure that it points to marketing as a core competence over apparel design (though it may point the focus of the design away from the athlete).
        deleted 10y ago
        [deleted]

samstave 10y ago

Make sure you check out the Nike documentary on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/watch/80093805 https://www.netflix.com/watch/80093805

gk1 10y ago
And read Phil Knight's memoir, "Shoe Dog." https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0176M1A44 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0176M1A44
- praneshp 10y ago
  Seconding this. It's a fast, one-sitting read. Very difficult to put down once you start.
- diego_moita 10y ago
  It is a very funny and fascinating book, the kind you get stuck on it and can't let go. From the start until the IPO, Nike was constantly on the verge of bankruptcy. It is a fascinating story with lots of backstabbing, desperate moves, improvisation and insanity. It is a company created by, pretty much, manic obsession. The only defect of this book is that it finishes, you keep wanting more when you're over.
  - moonka 10y ago
    >It is a very funny and fascinating book, the kind you get stuck on it and can't let go. I made the mistake of starting it late in the day on Saturday. Chewed up my entire weekend between reading it and not being able to put it down until way too late at night. I also found the portions when he talks about his dealing with the Japanese companies fascinating.

Synaesthesia 10y ago

The way they get made in exploitative sweatshops in Indonesia for barely anything is not so romantic.

m0llusk 10y ago

What amazes me about Nike is how they are great masters of design and yet the whole barefoot minimal shoe movement has completely passed them by. If they know so much about what people need from shoes then why don't they even have any options comperable to anything from Vibram or Vivobarefoot? For me their shoes have always been aesthetically impressive and unusably uncomfortable.

JofArnold 10y ago
This is not strictly true. They've just not done it quite he same way. Their Free Run is flexible, light and with zero stack. It's thicker than, say, Innov8 or VFFs but they compact down. Astonishingly comfortable shoes for me and, via NikeID, the only truly wide running shoes other than maybe some models of Vivos.