FedEx Kinko’s — Network of Resources

Business happens pretty quickly in the printing trade, and the same can be said for the shipping industry. Merge the two together, and you can expect the pace to get ratcheted up a level or two.

Take the humble beginnings of FedEx Kinko’s Office and Print Services. Paul Orfalea, founder of Kinko’s, put a couple of copiers in a taco stand on the campus of the University of California-Santa Barbara in 1970 and sold a minority stake (tacos not included) for $200 million in 1996. Today, the printing and shipping hybrid does just north of $2 billion in annual revenues with a staggering 1,600 locations.