Yao Zhipeng graduated from the Chemistry Department of Peking University. After graduation, he went to Corning's Gorilla Glass Company to engage in technical management, and also participated in the establishment of its China subsidiary.

After that, Yao Zhipeng went to Tsinghua University to continue his master's degree, majoring in international business administration at MIT. His graduation thesis is a comparative study of photovoltaic wind power in China. Since then, Yao Zhipeng has been eyeing the new energy field.