so let's say $30M in revenue; I don't know what margins are like in the paperclip business, but let's say $3M/year in gross profit.
I don't think 10% margins for commodity producers are really realistic, it's probably much lower margins, and they're probably doing many things other than paperclips so they have no particular reason to focus on that.
Most companies have only vague idea what consumers do with their products.
Nice article about paperclip industry, I'm sure it will be of considerable interest to many LessWrong readers.