The Tiger Running Shoe - Phil Onitska and Phil Barman

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Phil Knight, Bill Barman and Onitska Tiger clicked because of a shared goal. They wanted to improve functionality and quality while keeping their price point below that of Puma and Adidas. After eight years as a distributor they got sales up to two million dollars. But soon other distributors started noticing and they wanted in. It was a big risk, but it was also a necessary one.

Great branding is about identity — and it’s about matchmaking too. No one knows this better than the legendary co-founder of Nike, Phil Knight. When he and his partner, Hall of Fame track coach Bill Bowerman, started the sneaker company, they never tried to force-feed customers a product just to drive up the bottom line. They focused on one thing: making an excellent product for people who believed in the edgy Nike ethos. Because they knew, when there’s a mismatch between product and market, the bottom usually drops out. Instead, they told the world who the are, and then did everything they could to find their ideal customers. And made history. Cameo appearance: Eddy Lu (GOAT).

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