Nike's Ambitious Beginnings Nike did not start as the king of sneakers. It began as Blue Ribbon Sports in 1964, founded by Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman. Knight was a former runner with a business idea. Bowerman was a track coach obsessed with making athletes faster. This mix mattered. Nike’s early DNA was not built around fashion. It was built around performance. Bowerman famously experimented with shoe soles, including the waffle-style tread that became part of Nike’s early