One of the first sneaker's Knight and Boerman came up with, circa 1964
The Early Days
The first shoe came to play by use of Bowerman's waffle iron. He used this for creating the sole design and it helped to make the grooves seen in the early shoes. This became the first commercially used shoe made by Nike and although it was a variation of the "Moon Shoe" it gained the name "the Nike Waffle Racer". This shoe was given to athletes at US track events and would quickly set Nike off to the path of fame. By the late 70s, Nike had expanded enough to begin partnerships with John Brown and Partners, which was a advertising company based out of Seattle. This is where Nike would create its first motto, "There is No Finish Line". By 1980, 50% of the market shares in the US shoe market went straight to Nike. It wouldn't take long before Nike products were widely loved and worn by many athletes around the world. The 90s and 2000s also held many great things for Nike but more on that later. In fact, Knight could not predict just how quickly Nike would rise to fame as it severely exceeded his expectations.
Audio taken from an interview with Phil Knight and David Rubenstein.