Go Go Gadget

We may or may not want to admit it, but many of us are addicted to technology. So what tools can’t entrepreneurs live without?

“I take it everywhere,” says Donna Childs, 39, of her Hewlett-Packard tablet PC. As the founder of Childs Capital LLC, a Wall Street firm that seeks to alleviate poverty in developing nations by investing in private enterprise, her business trips take her around the world, from Africa to Latin America. “I detach the screen to take notes when I’m in the field or in meetings,” Childs says. “It’s great for portability.”

Josh Kerr’s Palm Treo allows him to work as if he were in the office, whether he’s “on vacation, at an off-site client meeting or anywhere I get a cell phone signal,” says Kerr, 32. The founder of Ideal Science, an Austin, Texas, software developer, says his Treo helps him stay in touch while he’s on the go.

Content Continues Below

Rich Rivaux, 33, knows what that means. He’s the founder of Intersec Tactical, a military and police equipment store in Galveston, Texas. While deployed in Honduras, Rivaux, a member of the Army Reserve, continued running his business with the help of his Innoport virtual phone system, which allowed him to receive faxes and voice mails via e-mail. “Automation is a must,” Rivaux says. “The more you automate, the less hassle you have to deal with.”