Federal compliance is having a moment. FedRAMP, FedRAMP 20x, CMMC, the whole alphabet soup is going mainstream, fast.
In this episode of The Paramify Podcast, we sit down with Justin Rende, Founder and CEO of Rhymetec, to talk about what’s actually changing, what’s still painfully hard, and why “compliance automation” only works if you stay obsessed with real risk.
Justin also shares his origin story (tech ➝ film festivals ➝ tech), how Rhymetec grew from early penetration tests into full vCISO and compliance programs, and the most New York lead gen strategy ever: biking around the city delivering Google Homes and handwritten notes to prospects.
If you’ve ever been promised an “easy button” for SOC 2, ISO, or FedRAMP, this one’s for you.
In this episode:
Why federal compliance is exploding (and why it’s not slowing down)
FedRAMP 20x and the pace of government innovation (yes, really)
The risk of “checkbox compliance” in a world of automation
How to set expectations with customers when security is never just one toggle
Bootstrapping, building recurring revenue, and staying flexible
Customer experience as the real differentiator (care scales better than you think)
Where to find Justin and Rhymetec:
https://rhymetec.com
/ justin-rende
Learn more about Paramify:
Paramify website: https://www.paramify.com/
Mike Schreiner (LinkedIn): / mikecschreiner
Kenny Scott (LinkedIn): / kenny-g-scott
Chapters
0:00 Federal compliance is exploding (and getting mainstream)
0:30 Welcome to The Paramify Podcast + Justin Rende intro
1:34 Justin’s origin story: tech ➝ film ➝ tech
2:53 Starting Rhymetec with pentesting (and betting on SaaS early)
4:25 Tribeca and Doha: running VIP experiences and meeting “heroes”
5:33 The real lesson from film: make the customer have a good time
7:01 Mess-ups happen, recovery is the job
8:15 “Don’t meet your heroes” (Rudy story)
9:24 Leaving film, chasing stability, spotting outdated consulting
10:43 Bootstrapping vs taking investment and why flexibility wins
13:53 From big pentest checks to recurring revenue and vCISO programs
15:24 Employee experience: quality of life, culture, and remote done right
18:10 SOC 2 and ISO automation: the pros, the cons, and the risk gap
20:25 The “easy button” myth (MFA is never just one button)
21:38 Sales overpromising, complexity, and doing right by the customer
25:36 Biking NYC: Google Homes, handwritten notes, and standing out
27:13 “Magic” in packaging, Alchemy, and why it works
31:28 Why Rhymetec leaned into federal compliance
32:24 SOC 2 race to the bottom vs doing it the right way
39:15 What’s improving in federal compliance (and what still hurts)
40:11 FedRAMP 20x innovation and building in public
42:52 FedRAMP scale, CMMC scale, and why it’s all accelerating
44:29 Legacy environments and why DoD adoption takes longer
46:24 Where to find Rhymetec + closing thoughts
