Copy This

Paul Orfalea — dyslexic, hyperactive, near the bottom of his high-school class — opened a copy shop next to the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1970 and turned it into Kinko’s. His account treats the disabilities as the mechanism rather than the obstacle: he could not do the work himself, so he delegated early, wandered the stores instead of sitting in an office, and let partner-operators own their branches, which is roughly the structure that let the chain scale.

Why it’s on the list: Bold on @mastersinvest’s 2025 list, meaning the curator rated it very good rather than merely read.

Where I saw it: @mastersinvest’s “2025 Reading … so far” list, August 20, 2025, where it appears in bold. The full 46-title list is transcribed on 2025 Reading So Far… (tweet).

Connections

• 2025 Reading So Far… (tweet) — the list this came from.
• Founder-Led Firms — Orfalea’s argument is that his own limits forced the decentralised structure.
• Franchises — Kinko’s grew through partner-owned branches rather than company-owned units.