8 x 10 mini whiteboard. $20 for 10. Sometimes the best way to prove a complex point is to draw a simple diagram. You can do that on paper, but a whiteboard makes it easier to edit on the fly, and pull your investor / client / partner into the process. Just in case there’s no whiteboard in the room, I keep this mini whiteboard in my bag at all times.
BOSE noise canceling headphones. $350. Ok this was a splurge, but I use them every day. Noisy train / plane / starbucks making you crazy? Slip these babies on, and you may as well be in the basement of a library. Goodbye, ADD. Hello, laser focus.
HP12C Calculator. $65. Standard issue MBA calculator. Frankly, I forgot how to do most of the things this baby is capable of, like calculating bond yield curves. Once in a while I’ll run a Net Present Value on it, but the real reasons I use it are twofold. First, nobody ever steals it, because they can’t figure out how to use the damn thing. And second, it makes a statement: I can crunch numbers with the best of them. So yes, I put some real thought into my projections, and no, you can’t pull the wool over my eyes with that fancy deal structure.
Moleskine notebook. $18. How many meetings have you had in the past 3 months? Remember who you met, when, and what the next steps were? Me neither. That’s why I jot everything down in a moleskine. They are uber portable, and sophisticated enough to pull out in the board room. If they were good enough for Picasso and Hemingway, they’re good enough for me.
Posted by david ronick 
