From Cop to Serial Founder: How Former IPS Officer Rajan Singh Built ConceptOwl and HabitStrong

Byline: By Business Bureau, New Delhi Chronicle

Published: September 19, 2026

NEW DELHI — In a corporate ecosystem where career paths are often predictable, Rajan Singh’s trajectory reads like an intentional masterclass in calculated risk-taking. An IIT Kanpur graduate who served as an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer for eight years—including a stint as the Commissioner of Police in Trivandrum—Singh walked away from a prestigious civil service career to reinvent himself in global finance, management consulting, and ultimately, entrepreneurship.

Today, as the founder of habit-building platform HabitStrong and former founder of ed-tech platform ConceptOwl, Singh represents a growing tribe of former civil servants who are leveraging administrative expertise and mental resilience to build modern, digital-first enterprises.

The Unconventional Career Pivot

After graduating in Electrical Engineering from IIT Kanpur, Singh cleared the UPSC Civil Services Examination and was assigned to the Kerala cadre. By age 30, he was serving as one of the youngest police commissioners in Trivandrum. However, driven by a desire to explore global business and finance, he made the decision to resign from the IPS after eight years of service.

Following his departure from government service, Singh earned an MBA in Finance from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He subsequently joined McKinsey & Company as a management consultant in New York, followed by a role as an investment professional with private equity firm New Silk Route.

“When nothing was going well and everything felt like it was falling apart, I discovered that an early morning routine, structured deep work, and discipline were the only things that truly changed outcomes,” Singh noted while reflecting on his transition into entrepreneurship.

Building ConceptOwl and Pivoting Through Crisis

In 2016, Singh launched his first major venture, ConceptOwl, a tier-2 and tier-3 focused ed-tech platform providing STEM education to students in smaller Indian towns. While the platform built a dedicated user base across Kerala and other regions, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 severely disrupted physical learning centers and forced a fast strategic pivot.

Rather than shutting down operations completely, Singh tapped into his own personal productivity systems—specifically routines he relied on during his high-stress police and startup days.

What began as a simple 30-day “5 AM Challenge” live stream on YouTube rapidly evolved into a scalable product-market fit. Seeing high demand for digital detoxes, routine building, and focused work methodologies, Singh pivoted ConceptOwl’s operational momentum into a new venture: HabitStrong.

The Rise of HabitStrong: Monetizing Discipline

HabitStrong functions as a cohort-based digital platform focused on helping working professionals, students, and leaders build routine-driven discipline, reduce screen addiction, and practice deep work.

Unlike traditional self-help platforms that offer passive video courses, HabitStrong emphasizes active execution, accountability bootcamps, and scientific habit loops—a approach that resonated deeply during the post-pandemic shift toward remote work and digital wellness.