William Noto '08 MBA

Throughout his career, MBA graduate Bill Noto has championed renewable energy and other sustainable resources. At Isenberg, he founded the school’s Net Impact chapter, which deploys problem solving in tackling societal challenges, including opportunities for sustainability. During his second year at Isenberg, Bill did elective work on a renewable energy project in the College of Engineering. After graduation, he joined GE Power & Water, in Schenectady, New York, where he has led software innovation teams and excelled as a software product manager in wind turbine technologies. Since 2013, as a senior software project manager, he has focused on cybersecurity accompanying wind-power projects.

An Entrepreneurial Turn

In March, Bill debuted as an entrepreneur with his launch of Heynay.com. The start-up and its app connects predominantly consumer-to-consumer renters and borrowers of household and other products. Current listings include a growing inventory of offerings—“tools, sports equipment, camping gear, boat trailers . . . you can list almost anything,” the website advises. “If, for example, you own a 20-foot folding ladder that sits in your garage for much of the year, why not add value to your purchase by renting it out to other members of your community?” asks Bill. Heynay.com protects renters through a security deposit; it plans to introduce added insurance protection to cover liability as well.

“But a key premise of the service is that most people in a community want to do the right thing by one another,” Bill emphasizes. And why, just like businesses, he continues, shouldn’t they maximize the productivity and value of their own purchases? The success of Uber and Airbnb attest to that. And beyond that, he adds, “consumers get to help the planet by reducing their own waste and getting more value out of what they own and share.”

The Heynay App is available from the Apple App Store. For more information, visit Heynay.com’s website.