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How Joe Foster Built Reebok Into a $4BN Brand (and beat Nike with no budget)

How Joe Foster Built Reebok Into a $4BN Brand (and beat Nike with no budget)

What it really takes to build a billion-dollar brand.

Mike Thurston
July 12, 2025

You might think that you need massive budgets and perfect timing to succeed.

But 90% of successful brands started with nothing more than luck, persistence, and a lot of courage.

Our guest this week is none other than Joe Foster. Now 90 years old, Joe founded and built Reebok from a tiny factory in Bolton into a $4 billion global empire, proving that brand building isn't about having all the answers at the start.

You need to turn every setback into your next win.

In this episode, Joe tells the story of how his company nearly went bankrupt, only to overtake Nike, becoming the world's number one sports brand.

Read more to learn how you can actually build an unstoppable brand from scratch.

→ WATCH THE FULL EPISODE HERE:

What it Really Takes to Build a Billion-Dollar Brand (Reebok Founder)

PURE PERSISTENCE AND STRATEGIC PIVOTS

Start local, think global

Foster dominated UK athletics before even attempting America.

This allowed him to create a solid foundation that could then fund an international expansion.

Use local success to fund international ventures.
Build reputation and cash flow domestically first.

Turn rejections into distribution

Foster bypassed retailers entirely by selling direct to athletic clubs at 15% commission, creating 400 agents with one letter.

→ When traditional channels reject you, create your own

→ Find your true customers and sell directly to them

→ Turn enthusiasts into your sales force

Embrace forced pivots

When Adidas threatened legal action over their stripe design, Foster changed everything about his branding.

By the end of it, he’d achieved notoriety, as well as a better logo and silhouette as a result of this pivot.

View legal challenges as redesign opportunities.
Don't fight expensive battles. Instead, use them as a chance to innovate.

❝

The biggest piece of advice for me is have fun. If you're not having fun, it's going to be tough. Even hard times can be fun because you can learn an awful lot.

- Joe Foster

Find the spaces within your niche, not yet occupied by other giants.

Instead of competing with Nike in mainstream sports, Reebok dominated overlooked areas like orienteering, rugby league, and cross-country running.

Identify these key markets that are ignored. Own those areas and become a household name for many, rather than a few.

Every entrepreneur starts somewhere.

Most get stuck thinking they need perfect conditions to begin.

But you need to realise that roadblocks aren’t necessarily there to stop you completely.

Keep going when others would quit, and remember to have fun.

Later this week, we’ll be sending a deep dive into everything that was covered in more detail to ensure you don’t miss any value from your watching.