Web3 Connection

[Dealsite Reporter Eunbi Cho] Glosoeum Publishing has released a new book titled Is It That You Can’t Make Money, or That You Don’t?, which captures the life story and management philosophy of Chairman Iron One, the head of YOUTHMETA, a global blockchain data analytics company.

The book is a practical self-development title that records the author’s intense journey of survival and execution philosophy — from entering society at the age of 13 to make a living after only completing elementary school, to becoming chairman of a global data company. Through the book, the author delivers a powerful message: “It is not your environment, but your execution, that changes your life.”

Chairman Iron One once delivered lunchboxes for a friend during his childhood and survived by taking on every job he could find, including dishwashing, manual labor, delivery work, and working on a pig farm. He also endured despair after losing all his assets due to business failures and fraud, and faced an extreme ordeal in which he had to endure 14 months in detention after becoming involved in an unjust incident.

However, the author used deprivation and shame not as poison, but as the engine that drove his life forward. Even at dawn the day after everything collapsed, he would write a new life plan and continue moving forward. As a result, he now serves as chairman of YOUTHMETA, a global AI-based digital asset data analytics platform company with users in 27 countries and around 60,000 members.

The book consists of five parts and covers topics such as how to turn deprivation into energy, practical principles for transforming failure into opportunity, the importance of people and relationships, and concrete ways to turn dreams into reality. Rather than focusing on flashy investment techniques or theories, the author emphasizes that “money is not something you fail to make — it is something you fail to earn because you do not move,” urging readers not to wait for the perfect timing, but to take action immediately, even while still unprepared.

He also shares an anecdote about taking out a 6 million won loan to complete a CEO program in order to learn from people, even while living in a single-room apartment with a 5 million won deposit. Through this story, he highlights his people-centered philosophy: “Money invested in people never disappears.”

Prominent figures in the industry also offered recommendations. Jin-young Choi, publisher and CEO of Herald Economy and The Korea Herald, described the book as “a moving record of survival and miraculous time, in which one soul collapsed to the very bottom and rose again by stepping on the fragments of despair.” He expressed hope that the book would become a light of hope for those passing through their darkest nights.

Jin-moon Doo, former CEO of Woongjin Coway, who built the so-called “Coway miracle” from the ground up, also recommended the book to those who want to become the protagonists of the future, saying, “His insight — to prepare by moving, rather than waiting for the perfect timing — is the very essence of business.”

Filled with raw sentences drawn from the fields of failure and survival, Is It That You Can’t Make Money, or That You Don’t? is expected to provide strong motivation to readers. The book has now been officially published and is available at both online and offline bookstores.

Reporter Eunbi Cho

silverb@dealsite.co.kr