Zamlom started as a single HTML file to see if I even knew the concepts on the CISSP — it grew into a full platform almost by accident
I didn't set out to build a product. Someone I know took the CISSP, and I got curious whether I could pass it too. I hadn't even gotten as far as buying the study book yet — I just threw together a simple HTML file with some definitions and quiz questions to test myself and see how much I already knew. Then I started having fun adding to it — a streak counter here, XP there — and over the course of a few weeks it organically turned into something way bigger than a self-test. Tabletop exercises, an AAR generator, multiplayer, an admin backend — none of it was the plan on day one, it just kept growing because I kept enjoying building it. I've built the whole thing solo.
Where I'm at right now: I'm deliberately not focused on monetizing it. There's a team/enterprise angle I think could be worth something down the line, but right now the priority is making the platform itself genuinely good — something people actually get value out of — before I worry about charging for any of it.
The personal reason I keep coming back to it: I've got two young kids and a schedule that doesn't have room for sitting down and studying for hours at a stretch. This platform has basically replaced the time I'd otherwise spend mindlessly scrolling Reels — a few minutes here and there, actually learning something and staying sharp in my field instead.
Still very much a work in progress and solo-built, so I'd genuinely appreciate any feedback, especially on whether the tabletop scenarios feel realistic to anyone who's been through the real thing. zamlom.com if you want to poke around.
The interesting part is how the original constraint seems to have shaped the product more than any initial roadmap did. A few minutes here and there is a very different learning workflow from sitting down for a dedicated study session. Curious which feature ended up becoming genuinely useful that you never expected to build.
To be honest, I never expected to build an app at all, but the tabletops are probably the one thing I never originally intended to include. Security training tends to be one of the first things deprioritized when budgets get tight — it's a pretty common pattern across the industry, and it leaves a lot of teams without a practical way to stay sharp.
Zamlom gives teams a way to read up on concepts they may not get regular hands-on experience with, or that they're just too busy to dedicate hours a day to in a structured course like the CISSP. The engine tracks what you've already covered and uses spaced repetition to bring it back after a while, so it stays fresh and you keep building on it.
Also — if you're in architecture and engineering — how often do you actually have time to run tabletops with your team and stay prepared for a real incident? How often do you branch into GRC or SOC concepts? It's an easy way to widen your skillset a few minutes at a time.
At least that's how I see it right now. If I can get more people on it, the feedback might point somewhere completely different — which is why I'm putting it out here.
I'd be interested in hearing more about what you're seeing as you get more users on it. What's the best email to reach you on?