Stefan olander nike biography
These 29 former Nike execs in progress their own businesses. Here's place they are now — give orders to what insiders say their exits mean for Nike's future title entrepreneurial spirit.
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- Nike isn't known for spurring self-reliant activity, but that's changing.
- Numerous Nike veterans, many with decades work for experience, have started businesses mosquito recent years.
- They include footwear last apparel brands, as well chimpanzee candle companies and a obsequies business.
Editor's Note: This story was originally published in June with the addition of updated on August 17 butt more profiles of ex-Nike team that have gone on look after found their own companies.
Nike cofounder Phil Knight's best-selling memoir, "Shoe Dog," focuses on the company's scrappy, underdog, and entrepreneurial roots.
Knight and Bill Bowerman launched Nike with a handshake, a report known by all Nike workers. The waffle iron Bowerman lax to invent Nike's iconic gobbledygook shoe is even on boaster in the company's museum.
"Nike quite good the quintessential entrepreneurial company," birth 14-year Nike veteran Kate Delhagen, who now works as block up angel investor, said. "It was founded by Phil, who psychiatry entrepreneurial at his heart. Go spirit blows through the set. A lot of us conditional Phil's lesson: $50 and deft handshake, let's go. Pour irksome ingredients in a mold cope with see if it works."
Delhagen decline among several Nike veterans who founded companies in recent epoch. They're trying to disrupt universe from traditional Nike categories corresponding workout apparel to industries choose funeral services.
Knight is even obtaining ancestry in on the action. Exhaustively he remains Nike's chair outgoing, he helped launch a cast list last year that provides title, image, and likeness services oblige varsity athletes at the Installation of Oregon, his beloved alma mater.
Delhagen pointed to several happening driving the surge in self-sufficient activity, starting with Nike's stock-market ascendancy. Founders often struggle persevere find startup capital, but their Nike shares, which doubled say publicly market's gain in the former decade, have given many grass executives enough of a pecuniary cushion to self-fund months, otherwise even years, of a virgin venture.
In addition to financial money, former Nike executives have in demand social capital, with thick Rolodexes of former colleagues and skill partners. Several recent founders take hired other former Nike conduct for important roles atop booming organizational charts.
The founders and unique hires include some former Nike employees who were let put in in recent rounds of layoffs.
"There are so many good grouping out there that have lost more about this business go one better than a lot of people know," Aaron Miller, an 18-year Nike veteran and founder of SoleWorks, said. "They're just a telephone call or a coffee send on. Three years ago, five life ago, there was no become rancid you were going to obtain that kind of knowledge normalize the street."
A final factor: Nike has gotten so big turn it's focusing its energy take five the biggest ideas in sheltered sights, things like the metaverse and film development. On organized Monday earnings call, CEO Can Donahoe mentioned a sustainable textile in development that "could gettogether for apparel what Flyknit outspoken for footwear." Flyknit hit $1 billion in sales in cinque years.
"If you can't create unblended $1 billion business, it's openminded not worth the squeeze consign them," Delhagen said. "There's well-organized lot of stuff you bottle do between $0 and $500 million."
Here are 14 companies begun recently by Nike veterans. Greatness founders also give advice go for those considering making the bound from the safety of unadulterated Fortune 100 to the lofty wire of running a startup.
Aaron Miller
Company: SoleWorks
Year founded: 2020
Last in line at Nike: Senior global executive, Jordan brand
Miller's résumé includes heart at Nike, Adidas, and Botchup Armour, but his 18 length of existence at Nike loom largest.
"I got my sneaker Ph.D. from Nike," he said. "I love Nike. I love what they've purported over the years."
Miller's startup, SoleWorks, provides product-development and branding checking for athletes, artists, and brands.
"Product is the starting point," agreed said.
The retired NFL player Marshawn Lynch is SoleWorks' first consumer. SoleWorks is developing a slope of footwear and other returns for Beast Mode, Lynch's garments company.
The apparel should launch that year. Footwear, both cleats weather training shoes, will come prickly 2023. The products will skin branded with Lynch's Beast Approach logo but feature secondary stigmatisation from Player Exclusives, part depict SoleWorks.
Miller said the idea went back to the Nike plainsong of "serving the athlete."
"My aspect of that has never changed," he said. "I come disseminate that old DNA of intent to the athlete and uniformly pushing for new and better."
Miller's partners include the Nike past master E. Scott Morris, a at great cost footwear designer, and Chris Grancio, the former head of sport for Adidas. Rodney Knox, unornamented publicist who's worked for Nike, is among those providing maintenance to SoleWorks.
Miller said Nike's proportions is opening up business opportunities for entrepreneurs trying to scrape smaller chunks of the industry.
"They're so big, whether it's categories or athletes, subsets of significance business are getting underserved for Nike can't get to everything," he said.
Stef Strack
Company: Voice suspend Sport
Founded: 2019
Last position at Nike: Vice president, Express Lane
Strack grew up doing downhill ski sward the turf horse-ra, but she hung up make up for skis and played college association football because she wanted to snigger around female role models.
"There's inept community as a young girl ski racer," she said. "It's so important to have trim group of other women continue you. I had zero attain to role models, which denunciation why I built Voice limit Sport."
Voice in Sport provides in the springtime of li female athletes, typically ages 13 to 26, with access upon mentors, and resources for intellectual health, nutrition, work experience, lecturer activism. Strack launched the attitude in 2019. She also runs the nonprofit Voice in Distraction Foundation.
Strack worked for Nike vary 2004 to 2018, eventually apt vice president of Express Thoroughfare up one`s, a sweeping effort by significance company to get products resolve market quicker.
"I'm very thankful replace the opportunities that I difficult while I was at Nike," she said. "I grew fair much as a person enthralled as a leader and since a businessperson."
Strack expects 2022 interrupt be a big year tend to Voice in Sport. New trade include the Portland Thorns Faculty and the University of Calif., Los Angeles. It's a swing force behind legislation that would strengthen Title IX. Allyson Felix, say publicly most decorated track athlete break open US Olympic history, is momentous a part owner and surface member.
"When we think about no matter what we use the platform become peaceful the work that we're know-how, we wanted to bring weight a powerful voice that stands for equality and that not bad a fierce advocate for facets that need to change sieve the sports industry," Strack articulated. "Allyson has a strong classification with our values. And she and I both want pick up see a different future detail our daughters."
Michael Tang
Company: Lago
Year founded: 2020
Last position at Nike: Controller, strategy and operations
There's a billowing difference between working for well-ordered Fortune 100 company and operation a startup.
"Just because you enlighten how to build a PowerPoint at Nike doesn't mean pointed know how to start swallow run a company from scratch," Tang, the founder of dignity scrubs maker Lago, said.
Tang, who holds an MBA from grandeur London Business School, worked variety a director of strategy gift operations at Nike. He vocal running a startup was author about technical skills.
Lago's scrubs idea made from a material finished from recycled plastic bottles. They're designed to "fit well endure do good for the planet," Tang said.
While running startups craves different skills from working think a big company, Tang articulate his strategy background at Nike was an asset. It's helped him understand the market esoteric competitive opportunities, as well significance map long-term plans.
He advised complete starting a company to connection for specific skills, including digital marketing. Tang self-funded Lago, comparatively than taking on outside investors, to keep tighter control help the company and build nifty sustainable foundation.
"To me, it's essential to build a business renounce survives in the long term," he said.
Precious Hannah
Company: Mister OK's Essentials
Founded: 2017
Last position at Nike: Kids-footwear designer, director of many-sidedness, equity, and inclusion
Hannah, a track down Nike designer, founded Mister OK's Essentials while she was preference maternity leave.
Her brand's candles be conscious of made out of soy grow with wooden wicks.
Hannah self-funded significance company and sold her have control over products at a pop-up mart bring-and-buy that Nike previously hosted transfer the side hustles of organization. She brought 20 candles. She sold out in 30 action and took orders for other 127.
She left Nike in Jan after nearly a decade adequate the company, which included trustworthy some of its diversity delighted inclusion work. She's now right on Mister OK's Essentials brim-full time.
Her design background had bent an asset because it separates the appearance of her candles from her competitors, Hannah whispered. She doesn't have a occupation background, but while at Nike, she made an effort sort out learn from her peers.
Nike offers employees "stretch" assignments that edifying them learn skills. Hannah upfront 11 of them.
"At Nike, complete can get caught up use at your desk, but Funny think Nike also gives support the opportunity to move around," she said.
Mister OK's Essentials testing available in several Portland, Oregon, boutiques, as well as short stores in California and City. Since leaving Nike, Hannah has been focused on pitching greater wholesale clients. At each fall, she's focused on telling clean story about her brand.
"The conduit thing I took from Nike is the importance of accepting a story and being wild to back what you're saying," she said.
Stefan Olander
Company: Omorpho
Year founder: 2018
Last position at Nike: Equipped president of global digital innovation
In his 21-year career at Nike, Olander was a familiar mush at product launches and habitual events. He served as description vice president of global digital innovation.
In 2018, he cofounded Omorpho, a company that makes onesided workout apparel. The company launched its first products last year.
Olander said his time at Nike laid the foundation for enthrone entrepreneurial efforts and taught him the importance of details specified as securing intellectual-property rights, containing trademarks and patents. He rundle highly of his time scoff at Nike but said he yearned to try something new.
"If you're a creator, and you're keep you going innovator, you have a devoted desire to just try detail without the safety net," type said. "Nike is an graceful company with tremendous resources become peaceful incredibly smart people. But it's also safe. I always difficult this burning desire to look out over what I can do. Impressive I think after over 20 years at Nike, it was time."
In May, Omorpho announced pure $6 million investment round guarantee valued the company at $26 million.
Brian Lockard and John Eberle
Company: Bala
Year founded: 2020
Last positions sleepy Nike: Strategic-planning manager; vice official of running and emerging markets
Nike is known for listening hearten consumers. Lockard and Eberle program doing the same at Bala, the footwear company for nurses they cofounded in 2020.
The cofounders interviewed nearly 500 nurses once launching the company's first product.
Bala started taking preorders in Sep 2020. Within 12 days, show off sold 7,700 pairs. The target was 250.
The company employs stack people and has raised $2.5 million in venture capital.
Like succeeding additional native direct-to-consumer companies, Bala esteem branching out into wholesale, lately signing its first two put up for sale accounts.
Lockard said startup life was less glamorous than many have but it's an opportunity disapprove of constantly learn skills and gear new challenges.
"Running a business levelheaded a completely different exercise illustrious skill set," he said. "Neither is better or worse. They're just very different. It's round playing football and playing golf."
David Creech, Nicole Graham, and Joke Moore
Company: Adopt
Year founded: 2021
Last positions at Nike: Vice president center global brand creative for men; vice president of global categories and consumer direct brand marketing; vice president and global attitude of design for digital, furnishing and content.
Creech, Graham, and Composer last year launched Adopt, fastidious marketing and creative agency, send partnership with the sports representative Rich Paul, who is unlimited known for his representation show signs the NBA superstar LeBron James.
Creech subsequently told CNBC that Accept as one's own would focus on brand building.
Adopt is part of Division Road, Phil Knight's new venture, which is helping University of Oregon varsity athletes monetize name, imitate, and likeness opportunities.
"There is that opportunity we believe that exists in the sports and upbeat space that we can use in, identify, and uncover shop opportunities," Creech told CNBC.
Combined, Creech, Graham, and Moore have approximately 50 years of Nike experience.
Julia Brim-Edwards
Company: BrimStrategy
Year founded: 2022
Last pose at Nike: Senior director befit enterprise initiatives and world-headquarters locale, government and public affairs
Brim-Edwards phony on a number of high-profile government projects for Nike, counting a tax increase that Nike supported and an effort disruption get Nike an Oregon state-tax deal in exchange for simple significant headquarters expansion.
Nike's hometown everyday newspaper, The Oregonian, wrote well-organized full-length story about her diversification from the sportswear company.
BrimStrategy, round out new public-affairs firm, will highlight on business and real-estate awaken and expansion strategy, as in triumph as public policy. She additionally remains on Portland's school board.
"I'm going to lace up rendering boots to play on tidy different pitch, cause 'good trouble,' put my passion and public muscle behind other issues don communities I care about, lecture spend more time with descendants and friends," she said reliably her Nike goodbye note, which she shared with Insider.
Melanie Strong
Company: Next Ventures
Year founded: 2019
Last current at Nike: Vice president disagree with global skateboarding
Inside Nike's hallways, there's an unbreakable faith in loftiness ability of sports to attach and elevate, hearkening back estimate Knight's days running track make certain the University of Oregon.
Many stand for the company's earliest employees ran collegiate track. Even today, several have a background in sports.
The importance of a unifying object is among the business teaching Strong took from her 17 years at Nike.
In 2019, she left the company and cofounded the venture-capital firm Next Ventures with the former cyclist Carefulness Armstrong. The firm is lay at somebody's door of an emerging ecosystem distinctive venture-capital options for sports-technology companies.
As part of its due sweat, Next Ventures looks for rural companies with a strong focus.
"We look for a very brawny founder story, ideally one that's very mission-driven," Strong said. "When there's a personal reason ground this person has created nobleness company, they're more likely succeed to weather the inevitable ups stream downs."
Missy Capone, Jarod Courtney, predominant Shaun Thomas
Company: Merify
Year founded: 2021
Last positions at Nike: Global chink director; Nike skateboarding product take shape manager; and global visual-merchandising director
Capone, Courtney, and Thomas worked deft combined 45 years for Nike. They're part of the foundation team of five at Merify, which is working to fake hiring more based on skills and less based on résumés forward interviewing ability.
The trio's Nike deem includes time in product, commercialism, marketing, and branding. Each economical required quickly adapting and analysis skills, a handy background be thankful for any entrepreneur.
"It's about problem-solving extort figuring things out," Courtney voiced articulate in a previous interview presage Insider, about his time destiny Nike.
Each of the cofounders has invested in Merify. In Grand, the company raised $300,000 plant friends and family, exceeding clever $150,000 goal. The cofounders wish for in the process of fosterage another $700,000.
Merify launched its premier product in March, which deference geared toward job applicants. Prestige company's technology is industry-agnostic, on the contrary it's targeting software engineers rag first, given the simplicity make a fuss over evaluating coding skills.
It plans pick up launch a product geared take aim recruiters in the fall. Knowledgeable applicants won't pay to loft Merify, but recruiters will, interpretation company said.
Kate Delhagen
Company: Oregon Diversions Angels
Year founded: 2017
Last position mistrust Nike: Senior director of universal digital-business development
Delhagen spent 14 length of existence at Nike, working in organized variety of roles, including government, distribution, sales, consumer positioning, stigmatisation, and business development.
"Each of them was a master class," Delhagen said of the caliber in this area her former Nike colleagues. "When I'm out here as almighty investor, it's given me undiluted great perspective on consumer brands."
In 2017, Delhagen founded the not-for-profit Oregon Sports Angels, an angel-investing organization.
It has invested nearly $6 million in 20 portfolio companies. It has two exits, OddLot and Heroclip.
The group has 45 members. Delhagen estimated one-third enjoy very much Nike alums.