Episode 65: Yi Li (Renogy), Los Angeles, California, USA

YPO member Yi Li grew up outside of Shanghai, China. With a lifelong love of science, she decided to pursue her studies in the United States, enrolling at Louisiana State University for a Ph.D. in physics. In the third year of her Ph.D. program studying superconductivity and semiconductor materials, Yi began a school project on alternative energy, turning on a light bulb of inspiration! She didn’t have any business training or experience, but she knew she had great ideas.

She decides to start a solar energy and storage company in her college apartment. Since its founding, Renogy has been certified by the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council and earned a spot on the 2016 Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing private companies, coming in at #444.

In this episode, Yi shares how she turned her Ph.D. into a profitable business with no investors or private funding, growing organically one person at a time.

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