Strictly From Nowhere: A Podcast Experiment by Cause of a Kind

About Strictly From Nowhere: A Podcast Experiment by Cause of a Kind

Five shows. One mission. Uncover wisdom and share it with all of you. Strictly From Nowhere is a podcast experiment by Cause of a Kind. We are Justin Abrams and Mike Rispoli. Co-founders. Bootstrappers. Builders. We interview founders, break down what is happening in tech and business, go deep on engineering and AI, and document our own journey of building from nothing every single day. Stand up. Show up. Build.

Publisher

Justin Abrams

Category

business

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

4 Jan 2022

Latest episode

23 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

223 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   23 Oct 2026

   Forest Mars | Distribution Always Wins

   When did a CTO last worry about the underwriter's rate table? Forest Mars thinks that is where the security apocalypse lands. In this episode of CTO Confidential, Mike Rispoli sits down with Forest Mars, the CTO's CTO. Forest runs CTO Lunch NYC, the monthly lunch and newsletter for working CTOs and engineering leaders, and builds infrastructure that contains AI agents when they go off the rails. We get into: * Why AI raises a CTO's strategy load by an order of magnitude * Why fractional CTOs get no money and no respect * The bugpocalypse, white hat swarms, and the financialization of risk * Auto updates as an attack vector, and the case for a 48 hour delay * Vibe hacking, and the amateur behind the South Korean bank hack * Why distribution always wins in the AI model race * Apps built for engagement versus users who want efficiency * Why AI nails everything together, and what code craftsmen lose * What a tech version of Kitchen Confidential would look like Connect with Forest: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/forestmars CTO Lunch NYC: https://ctolunches.com Website: https://forestmars.com CTO Confidential is part of the Strictly From Nowhere podcast experiment. New episodes weekly. Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWAstEyCK6YsKVTTRsQr37w ──────────────────────────────── LISTEN ON ALL PLATFORMS Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/1V4SjmlnG2sntDnck8UrGW Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/strictly-from-nowhere-a-podcast-experiment-by-cause/id1804380172 iHeart Radio https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-strictly-from-nowhere-a-po-315649122/ YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWAstEyCK6YsKVTTRsQr37w SUPPORT THE SHOW Patreon http://patreon.com/StrictlyFromNowhere CONNECT WITH US LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/strictly-from-nowhere Website https://strictlyfromnowhere.com ──────────────────────────────── FOLLOW JUSTIN ABRAMS | @cuzzinjustin LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/cuzzinjustin/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/cuzzinjustin/ X https://x.com/cuzzinjustin TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@cuzzinjustin Facebook https://www.facebook.com/cuzzinjustin24 Website https://www.cuzzinjustin.com ──────────────────────────────── FOLLOW MIKE RISPOLI | @mike_rispoli_cto LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-rispoli-cto/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/mike_rispoli_cto/ X https://x.com/michael_rispoli TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@mike_rispoli Website https://michaelrispoli.com/ ──────────────────────────────── CAUSE OF A KIND | @causeofakind Website https://www.causeofakind.com LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/cause-of-a-kind Instagram https://www.instagram.com/causeofakind/ X https://x.com/causeofakind TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@causeofakind Newsletter Signup http://eepurl.com/gcc-yj Newsletter Archive https://us16.campaign-archive.com/home/?u=847ea1526d6523a41ef1eb5a5&id=48d53e9627 ──────────────────────────────── OPEN SOURCE PROJECTS CodeDojo https://github.com/Cause-of-a-Kind/code-dojo-core OCR Ruby GEM https://activestorage-ocr-demo.fly.dev/ ──────────────────────────────── COMMUNITY INITIATIVES Long Island Technologists https://www.longislandtechnologists.com https://www.linkedin.com/company/long-island-technologists-networking https://www.instagram.com/longislandtechnologists/ ──────────────────────────────── We Build Products, Because We Want Them To Exist https://coakstudio.com ──────────────────────────────── Brought to you by Cause of a Kind A boutique software development and startup studio from Long Island, New York Stand up. Show up. Build.

2. 

   22 Oct 2026

   Adam Dymitruk | Event Sourcing Paradigms

   A full stack slice of software used to cost $2,500. Today Adam Dymitruk's team produces one for 25 cents. In this episode of CTO Confidential, Mike Rispoli sits down with Adam Dymitruk, founder and CEO of Adaptech Group and the creator of Event Modeling. Adam has spent more than 30 years in software, the last 20 focused on event sourcing, and for eleven years his company has sold fixed cost slices with no known bugs allowed. We get into: * Why new ideas start with frustration at the status quo * Fixed cost slices, flat cost curves, and a four hour ceiling on every bug * Preserving data at the edge, and why after the fact logging is not a source of truth * Event sourcing without aggregates, and indexing any property on any event * Letting an agent read the event stream so you do not have to read the code * The injured roofer who learned to program one slice at a time * Why the AI multiplier is 10,000, not 10 * Knowledge versus experience, and what learning Git the hard way taught Adam * Why you are now selling understanding, not solutions Connect with Adam: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eventmodeling Adaptech Group: https://adaptechgroup.com Event Modeling: https://eventmodeling.org CTO Confidential is part of the Strictly From Nowhere podcast experiment. New episodes weekly. Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWAstEyCK6YsKVTTRsQr37w Watch the full episode: https://youtu.be/wVWe57mHl-8 ──────────────────────────────── LISTEN ON ALL PLATFORMS Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/1V4SjmlnG2sntDnck8UrGW Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/strictly-from-nowhere-a-podcast-experiment-by-cause/id1804380172 iHeart Radio https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-strictly-from-nowhere-a-po-315649122/ YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWAstEyCK6YsKVTTRsQr37w SUPPORT THE SHOW Patreon http://patreon.com/StrictlyFromNowhere CONNECT WITH US LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/strictly-from-nowhere Website https://strictlyfromnowhere.com ──────────────────────────────── FOLLOW JUSTIN ABRAMS | @cuzzinjustin LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/cuzzinjustin/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/cuzzinjustin/ X https://x.com/cuzzinjustin TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@cuzzinjustin Facebook https://www.facebook.com/cuzzinjustin24 Website https://www.cuzzinjustin.com ──────────────────────────────── FOLLOW MIKE RISPOLI | @mike_rispoli_cto LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-rispoli-cto/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/mike_rispoli_cto/ X https://x.com/michael_rispoli TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@mike_rispoli Website https://michaelrispoli.com/ ──────────────────────────────── CAUSE OF A KIND | @causeofakind Website https://www.causeofakind.com LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/cause-of-a-kind Instagram https://www.instagram.com/causeofakind/ X https://x.com/causeofakind TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@causeofakind Newsletter Signup http://eepurl.com/gcc-yj Newsletter Archive https://us16.campaign-archive.com/home/?u=847ea1526d6523a41ef1eb5a5&id=48d53e9627 ──────────────────────────────── OPEN SOURCE PROJECTS CodeDojo https://github.com/Cause-of-a-Kind/code-dojo-core OCR Ruby GEM https://activestorage-ocr-demo.fly.dev/ ──────────────────────────────── COMMUNITY INITIATIVES Long Island Technologists https://www.longislandtechnologists.com https://www.linkedin.com/company/long-island-technologists-networking https://www.instagram.com/longislandtechnologists/ ──────────────────────────────── We Build Products, Because We Want Them To Exist https://coakstudio.com ──────────────────────────────── Brought to you by Cause of a Kind A boutique software development and startup studio from Long Island, New York Stand up. Show up. Build.

3. 

   15 Oct 2026

   Carlos Spallarosa | Embrace Change, Stay Curious

   The day after he got laid off, Toys R Us offered him a full time job. In this episode of Forward to Extraordinary, Justin Abrams sits down with Carlos Spallarossa, VP Client Partner at Cosmo5, the global agency formerly known as Labelium. He started in web hosting around 2000, spent a decade on a help desk teaching himself to code, then built SEO practices at Toys R Us and L’Oréal. He is also the client who put Justin in front of a L’Oréal boardroom eight years ago, the day Justin realized he was actually an SEO. We get into: Why he calls it a practice, not a job The interview that was all banter and no technical questions Brand storytelling as the new performance channel Selling fragrance online when nobody can smell it Why GEO is its own practice, and what share of answer measures Call centers, Reddit and TikTok as content gold mines Specialists versus generalists when anyone can build a dashboard in fifteen minutes Balance that starts with awareness, and what his daughters taught him Connect with Carlos: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cspallarossa/ Cosmo5: https://cosmo5.com ──────────────────────────────── LISTEN ON ALL PLATFORMS Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/1V4SjmlnG2sntDnck8UrGW Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/strictly-from-nowhere-a-podcast-experiment-by-cause/id1804380172 iHeart Radio https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-strictly-from-nowhere-a-po-315649122/ YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWAstEyCK6YsKVTTRsQr37w SUPPORT THE SHOW Patreon http://patreon.com/StrictlyFromNowhere CONNECT WITH US LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/strictly-from-nowhere Website https://strictlyfromnowhere.com ──────────────────────────────── FOLLOW JUSTIN ABRAMS | @cuzzinjustin LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/cuzzinjustin/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/cuzzinjustin/ X https://x.com/cuzzinjustin TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@cuzzinjustin Facebook https://www.facebook.com/cuzzinjustin24 Website https://www.cuzzinjustin.com ──────────────────────────────── FOLLOW MIKE RISPOLI | @mike_rispoli_cto LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-rispoli-cto/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/mike_rispoli_cto/ X https://x.com/michael_rispoli TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@mike_rispoli Website https://michaelrispoli.com/ ──────────────────────────────── CAUSE OF A KIND | @causeofakind Website https://www.causeofakind.com LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/cause-of-a-kind Instagram https://www.instagram.com/causeofakind/ X https://x.com/causeofakind TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@causeofakind Newsletter Signup http://eepurl.com/gcc-yj Newsletter Archive https://us16.campaign-archive.com/home/?u=847ea1526d6523a41ef1eb5a5&id=48d53e9627 ──────────────────────────────── OPEN SOURCE PROJECTS CodeDojo https://github.com/Cause-of-a-Kind/code-dojo-core OCR Ruby GEM https://activestorage-ocr-demo.fly.dev/ ──────────────────────────────── COMMUNITY INITIATIVES Long Island Technologists https://www.longislandtechnologists.com https://www.linkedin.com/company/long-island-technologists-networking https://www.instagram.com/longislandtechnologists/ ──────────────────────────────── We Build Products, Because We Want Them To Exist https://coakstudio.com ──────────────────────────────── Brought to you by Cause of a Kind A boutique software development and startup studio from Long Island, New York Stand up. Show up. Build.

Who has been a guest on Strictly From Nowhere: A Podcast Experiment by Cause of a Kind

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Patrick Gilbert
• Larry Siedlick
• Natalie Kaminski
• Igor Aleksandrov
• Nir Zavaro

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

2 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

3 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 48 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

83

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

32

Contact Strictly From Nowhere: A Podcast Experiment by Cause of a Kind

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

Questions about Strictly From Nowhere: A Podcast Experiment by Cause of a Kind