Nike COO Eric Sprunk at his offices in Beaverton, Oregon.
Nike COO Eric Sprunk at his offices in Beaverton, Oregon. Sprunk will speak at the GeekWire Summit on Oct. 2.

Nike is not just an athletic shoe and apparel powerhouse. Known for its splashy advertising and big-time celebrity sports endorsements, the company is infusing innovation throughout the organization.

Leading that charge is Eric Sprunk, a longtime Nike executive who now serves as chief operating officer, overseeing everything from manufacturing to IT infrastructure.

Sprunk will be one of more than 30 speakers to join us on stage at this year’s GeekWire Summit, taking place Oct. 1-2 at the Sheraton Seattle. A dynamic speaker with a down-home style from his roots in Montana, Sprunk will join us at the Summit for a fireside chat on Friday, Oct. 2 to talk about technology, sports and the spirit of innovation within Nike.

Here’s a Q&A we conducted with Sprunk as a preview of his Summit session.

Hometown: “Born in LeMars, Iowa. Grew up in Missoula, Montana. I consider Missoula my ‘hometown.’ ”

College: “University of Montana. Go Griz!”

Eric Sprunk of Nike
Eric Sprunk of Nike

Favorite sport: “To play: Basketball. To watch: American football; but love any and all sports and have been to see most sports played live around the world.”

Greatest personal sports moment: “Most impactful was losing the state high school basketball championships to a team we had already beaten three times that same year. Taught me a lot about leadership and preparation. In this job I have had the opportunity to witness some of the best sports moments ever, but maybe one of my favorite personal ones was going to last year’s Super Bowl with all five of our passionate Seahawk and Patriot loving children and battling it out all the way to the last second.”

Favorite music to work-out to: “AC/DC.”

Favorite athlete: “Reggie Jackson.”

Favorite sports-related technology: “Instant replay and the superimposed yellow line that shows the line of scrimmage on TV.”

What’s your least favorite sports technology: “Anything where I have to do more than turn it on to get the benefit from it.”

Favorite Nike memory: “Wow. So many. Living in The Netherlands for 5 years was an amazing experience.”

Geekiest — or most tech-savvy — athlete you’ve ever met: “Good question. Probably Kobe Bryant. He has an unbelievable knowledge of how his body works and what he wants out of his body. And he is willing to do anything he can to learn more about it.”

Favorite sports app: “ESPN ScoreCenter. I love keeping track of the scores, the stats and the news stories for all my favorite teams — and their rivals.”

What’s your favorite sports technology: “Nike+ Running and NTC.”

Favorite Nike shoe of all time: “Lunar Flyknit.”

ericsprunk141What innovation(s) are you most excited about at Nike, and why? “I love Flyknit right now. It redefines innovation. It isn’t just what the product looks like and about how it performs, it is about how it is made. Innovation in the method of manufacturing is what led to it. When innovation in manufacturing and innovation in design come together like they have in the Flyknit product you can produce amazing things.”

Where do you see the wearable technology industry going in the next five, 10 years? Where does Nike fit into that? “I think it will continue to grow at an increasing rate. Consumers want knowledge as long as it is fast, easy to get and inexpensive. And I think that is what we will see in the wearable industry. The trick will be not to provide technology and information just because we can; but because it is valuable for the consumer. That is where Nike fits in. We know what the athlete and the consumer want and what is important for them. We will lead in providing valuable sports-related information to them in a way that is easy for them to consume and use.”

What have your learned from working alongside Apple in sports? “We have a great ongoing partnership with Apple. They have outstanding consumer electronic engineering resources that we have been able to leverage and they think ‘consumer first’ like we do.”

How is Nike thinking about technology in terms of helping athletes improve their craft? “Our mission is to provide innovation and inspiration to every athlete* in the world (*if you have a body you are an athlete). We believe technology is a huge catalyst to helping athletes be better. It helps connect them to each other; to know more about themselves and buy what they want when they want it.”

Does Nike view itself as a tech company? Why or why not? “We are a sport company first and foremost. Innovation drives everything we do at every step along our value chain. Technology is an enabler and has allowed us to accelerate what we do. It drives how we get insights and feedback from athletes, how we design product for them, how we manufacture it, how we deliver it and how we provide it for sale and how we interact with our consumers before, during and after they purchase our product. And every step in-between.”

Join us at the fourth annual GeekWire Summit on Oct. 1-2 to hear more from Sprunk and other tech leaders, including Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff, Glassdoor CEO Robert Hohman, venture capitalist Dave McClure. and Concur execs Steve Singh and Elena Donio, among many others.

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