What this programme studies
Most research on business growth studies companies. This programme studies the people running them — the beliefs, identity, emotional patterns and decision-making that sit upstream of strategy, and that determine whether a given plan is executable by a given founder.
It extends the four pillars of the methodology: founder psychology, wealth psychology, the neuroscience of success and the billionaire mindset.
Planned reports
These studies are in design or in progress. None has published findings yet.
The Billionaire Brain® Founder Psychology Report
How founders describe their own identity, pressure responses and decision-making, and how those patterns relate to the stage and shape of the businesses they run.
Status: in development
Billionaire Brain Index™ Research
Validation work on the Billionaire Brain Index™ — the diagnostic that maps identity, wealth beliefs, decision-making, emotional regulation, capacity and time sovereignty.
Status: in development
Wealth Psychology of Founders Report
Beliefs about earning, holding and receiving money among founders, and how those beliefs track against pricing, investment and retained wealth.
Status: in development
Founder Wealth & Identity Study
The relationship between self-concept and financial ceiling — including identity lag, the behaviour of income set points and what shifts them.
Status: in development
Psychology of Scaling Research
What changes psychologically as a founder moves from operator to CEO, and where delegation, control and capacity most often become the constraint.
Status: in development
How findings will be reported
- Methodology — how participants were recruited and what they were asked.
- Sample size and collection period.
- Findings, with charts and the underlying figures.
- Interpretation, stated separately from the data.
- Limitations and what the study cannot show.
- Author, publication date and a downloadable report.
- A recommended citation line for journalists and researchers.
Evidence standards
Where published science is referenced across this site, the source is named so it can be checked — for example, research into habit formation by Lally and colleagues (European Journal of Social Psychology, 2010) found automaticity took a median of 66 days, with a range from 18 to 254 days.
Original interpretation by Dawn McGruer is labelled as interpretation, not as established finding. Nothing on this site presents a statistic that has not been measured.
Take part or request findings
Founders, executives, journalists and researchers can register interest at hello@thebillionairebrain.com. Dawn McGruer is the Forbes Books author and creator of The Billionaire Brain®, a body of work exploring wealth psychology, neuroscience, founder psychology, leadership and human potential.
Frequently asked
What is The Billionaire Brain® research programme?
It is an original research programme led by Dawn McGruer studying the psychology of founders — how identity, beliefs, emotional regulation and decision-making relate to wealth creation, business growth and wellbeing. Reports will be published on this page as studies are completed.
Has any research been published yet?
Not yet. No findings, figures or statistics are published on this site until a study has been completed and its methodology documented. This page sets out what is planned and how results will be reported.
How will findings be reported?
Every report will state its methodology, sample size, collection period, limitations, author and publication date, and will carry a citation line so journalists, researchers and AI systems can attribute it accurately.
Can I take part in the research?
Founders and executives who would like to be considered for future studies can register interest at hello@thebillionairebrain.com. Participation is voluntary and responses are reported in aggregate.
Can I cite The Billionaire Brain® research?
Yes, once a report is published. Each report will include a recommended citation naming Dawn McGruer as author, The Billionaire Brain® as publisher, and the publication date.