Paul Van Doren is one of the founders of Vans. Vans is a footwear company that makes shoes for some extreme sports like skateboarding, snowboarding, and surfing. Van Doren started the company with his brother and their friends in 1966. They had to build the first building themselves from the ground up. The company was initially called the Van Doren Rubber Company. On opening day 17 people showed up. Van Doren believed in making the most durable shoes. He thought that people would want to show off their tough shoes to their friends. He started to market to skateboarders. He would start to sponsor skateboarders by giving them free shoes. Paul ran the company until 1976 when his brother James took over. Vans continued to grow as a character in Fast Times at Ridgemont High. The character wore the classic checkered slip-on. Vans went bankrupt in the 1980s but was able to pay off its debt. Vans was bought in 1988 by a group of investors for 60 million. Vans fell into a slump and started to focus more on marketing and began putting on warped tours and it became a hit. Vans started to sponsor all types of extreme sports events and athletes and started selling apparel. Now, after 50 years of business, the company is selling $400m worth of shoes a year. Vans are my favorite shoes to wear. I personally own 5 pairs of vans at the moment and have been wearing them for a very long time.