new-balance

(4)
Legend
Dan McKinnon and the trouble with a convincing N
Executive · Operator

Dan McKinnon and the trouble with a convincing N

At New Balance, Dan McKinnon defended a single letter across borders. At Proof Authentication, he is working to give buyers a way to check the product behind the logo.

dan-mckinnon · daniel-mckinnonRead →
Legend
Chris Davis Put a 120-Year-Old Sneaker Brand on a 50/30/20 Diet
Executive · Operator

Chris Davis Put a 120-Year-Old Sneaker Brand on a 50/30/20 Diet

Inside Chris Davis's plan to make New Balance younger without making it forgetful - one measured risk, athlete partnership, and beautifully stubborn sneaker at a time.

chris-davis · new-balanceRead →
Company
JD Finish Line
Ecommerce · Consumer · Enterprise

JD Finish Line

JD Finish Line is the North American athletic footwear and apparel arm of UK-based JD Sports Fashion plc. Founded in Indianapolis in 1976 and built into a national sneaker chain under the Finish Line name, the business was acquired by JD Sports in 2018 for about $558 million. It sells premium multi-branded athletic footwear, apparel and accessories through Finish Line stores, Finish Line shop-in-shops inside more than 450 Macy's department stores, a growing fleet of JD-branded stores, and the finishline.com e-commerce platform. As of 2025 JD Sports is retiring the standalone Finish Line mall banner in favor of the JD nameplate while keeping the Finish Line brand alive inside Macy's.

athletic-footwear · sneakersRead →
Legend
Daniel McKinnon
Executive · Operator · Advisor

Daniel McKinnon

Daniel McKinnon is the CEO of Proof Authentication, a Boston-based anti-counterfeiting technology company whose non-duplicatable printed marks and smartphone verification app are used by Fortune 500 brands. Before taking the top job in 2021 alongside the company's Series A round, he spent nearly a decade as Senior Counsel for Intellectual Property and Global Brand Protection at New Balance, where he led the sportswear maker's aggressive legal campaign against copycat brands in China. He is best known for helping secure a landmark $1.5 million damages award against the counterfeiter New Boom, at the time the largest such award granted to a foreign company by a Chinese court.

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