Nike — it’s perhaps the most iconic and most prolific brand of the modern era. On any given day, swooshes adorn the feet of more people on earth than any other footwear company — by a long shot.If you read Shoe Dog or watched Air, you may think you know its history. But Shoe Dog ends in 1980, and Air… well let’s just say it’s an enjoyable piece of fiction. And it turns out (as always) that the real story is filled with far more drama, twists and business lessons than either of those works.We’ve been wanting to cover Nike for a long time, and thanks to our LPs who voted to choose this episode it’s finally here. So lace up your Vaporflys, Air Maxes, Dunks or Jordans (or your Monarchs, hey we don’t judge), head out for a long run or walk and enjoy!Links:Episode sourcesCarve Outs:Marc Andreessen on Lex Fridman and on Ben ThompsonSpeak Now (Taylor’s Version)Sponsors:Anrok: https://bit.ly/anrokacquiredStatsig: https://bit.ly/acquiredstatsig24Anthropic: https://bit.ly/acqclaudeMore Acquired!:Get email updates with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodesJoin the SlackSubscribe to ACQ2Merch Store!© Copyright 2015-2025 ACQ, LLCNote: Acquired hosts and guests may hold assets discussed in this episode. This podcast is not investment advice, and is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. You should do your own research and make your own independent decisions when considering any financial transactions.
Full Episode
Listeners, you should know David and I were texting before this debating, do we change this thing around? Do we play with this? Should we reorganize this section? And he texted me, let's just do it. So in the honor of Bad Jokes by David Rosenthal, here we go.
Who got the truth? Is it you? Is it you? Is it you? Who got the truth now?
Welcome to Season 13, Episode 1 of Acquired, the podcast about great technology companies and the stories and playbooks behind them. I'm Ben Gilbert. I'm David Rosenthal. And we are your hosts. There's an age-old question in business. What is more important, a great product or great marketing? Well, today we have literally the perfect case study in that very question in Nike.
Does breakthrough innovation drive that business? Or is their core competency really around their profound advertisements and their sponsorship deals with athletes and teams or their probably best in the world brand positioning? To understand it, we have to examine Nike's entire 60-year history, of course, because this is acquired. And because Shoe Dog is so good. That's amazing.
You got to start at the beginning. So really, the question is, what makes this company the single largest apparel business in the world today, outside of luxury, of course? And how is it possible to be a shoe company that does over $50 billion in revenue when they technically don't make a single shoe?
So you may think you know Nike from the movie Air or Shoe Dog, but what hasn't been told is how those old stories tie to the gigantic shift in strategy that Nike is really in the middle of right now. Well, LPs, we got to thank you for voting for this episode. David and I have had it sort of in our episodes.
And we'll be dropping little Easter eggs and hints in those emails to tease about what the next episode is going to be. So that's acquired.fm slash email. Don't miss a new episode. And lastly, make sure you check out ACQ2, our second show where we interview people who are building their companies today, available in any podcast player.
And without further ado, listeners, as always, this show is not investment advice. David and I may have investments in the companies we discuss, and this show is for informational and entertainment purposes only. David Rosenthal, what is that stack of books on your desk?
Oh, my God. I think Amazon owes a thank you note to Acquired LPs because I bought every Nike book out there. I mean, my six foot long desk is covered in Nike books. So fun to read all of them.
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