Swoosh

A good brand has history and stories, and good stories have multiple layers. I came across this one over the week and can't stop thinking how rich and full of lessons this is.

In 1971, the Nike brand was born (transforming from the previous Blue Ribbon Sports). So, they decided they needed a logo, and Phil Knight (who was teaching accounting at a university) hired a design student (Davidson) to create one - "she needed the money". She developed several creatives, and Phil Knight reportedly chose the one "he hated the least", believing "it will grow on me" (this logo is nowadays called "The Swoosh"). For the work, the student was paid 35 usd (slightly more than 200 usd, nowadays), "I billed and was paid for the work".

The story doesn't end there, though. At the time of Nike's IPO, Nike decided to gift Davidson (the student) a golden swoosh ring with a diamond... and 500 shares of Nike's stock. Reportedly, Davidson never sold these shares, that, after several stock splits, they represent nowadays 32000 shares, with a market value of around 3M usd (she has retired a few years ago and does volunteering work).

The number of layers in this story is amazing. The decisions and implications. There are several lessons in it - you just have to pick the ones you need, I would say.

Chouillard

How surprising is this? Actually, not that much - Chouillard had already hinted a couple of times of his desire to do something along this way.

But it reminds us that heartfelt purpose doesn't start with "consumers". It is not drawn in a meeting room, comparing alternatives and reading "consumer quotes". Purpose is a founder's heart. It translates its dreams and aspirations when starting and running a company. And then, people might connect to it - and when it happens, you have more than a company, you have a common heart.

Patagonia founder gives away the company

Boring

You know what is the most important (and probably boring) feature a product needs to have to be purchased? Availability.

Yep, that is the number one! A product to be bought needs to be available. It doesn't seem rocket science. It won't be a viral feature that everyone will be talking about at a technology summit (unless Reckon.ai is there, of course).

But still, we see products missing in supermarket shelves everyday - the figure is 8%, daily and globally, and that means a 563Bs usd loss for retailers. And we also see nice stores, in premium locations, paying top-rents, but that are not open 24/7.

So, though boring, non-viral, non-tiktok like, non-brandable, it is availability that is the first driver of sales. So, no, it is not only a Supply Chain problem - it is beyond that, it's a business one. And no, it probably isn't fully covered - everyone can step up on this.

Waste is not trash

Waste is not trash. It is a resource. We are just constrained by our lack of imagination.