The HR Tech Market Is Bigger Than You Think
Global HR technology spending exceeded $35 billion in 2025, yet satisfaction with HR software remains stubbornly low. The reason is structural: the market is dominated by massive platforms—Workday, SAP SuccessFactors, Oracle HCM—that serve enterprise compliance and payroll needs but leave enormous gaps in the workflows that HR professionals actually spend their time on. Candidate sourcing, employee engagement measurement, manager enablement, and workforce planning are all areas where HR teams supplement their core platform with spreadsheets, surveys, and manual processes.
These gaps are your opportunity. As an HR executive, you know which parts of the employee lifecycle your platform handles well and which parts force your team into workarounds. You know which reports your CHRO asks for that take days to compile because the data lives in five different systems. You know which processes your team dreads—annual enrollment, performance calibration, exit interviews—because the tools are clunky and the workflows are poorly designed.
The HR tech mid-market is particularly underserved. Companies with 100-2,000 employees are too large for basic tools like Gusto or BambooHR but cannot justify the cost and implementation complexity of enterprise platforms. This mid-market segment needs focused, affordable tools that solve specific people operations challenges without requiring a six-month implementation and a dedicated HRIS team. That is exactly the kind of product an executive side project can deliver.
HR Tech Side Project Ideas That HR Teams Actually Want
Employee onboarding orchestration is one of the highest-impact opportunities in HR tech. Despite having sophisticated HRIS platforms, most companies still manage new hire onboarding through a combination of email chains, shared documents, and manual checklists. A purpose-built onboarding platform that coordinates tasks across HR, IT, facilities, and the hiring manager—while providing the new employee with a clear, guided experience—would find immediate demand. The document collection component alone, handling I-9 forms, direct deposit authorization, benefits enrollment, and policy acknowledgments through a system like FileJoy, would save HR teams hours per new hire.
Manager effectiveness tools represent another gap in the current market. Most performance management software focuses on the annual review cycle but does nothing to help managers have better one-on-ones, deliver feedback, or develop their direct reports throughout the year. A lightweight manager coaching tool that provides conversation frameworks, tracks development goals, and nudges managers to follow up on commitments would address one of the biggest pain points in HR: the quality gap between great managers and mediocre ones.
Workforce event management is a third area with strong demand. Town halls, benefits fairs, training sessions, company offsites, and volunteer events all require coordination that falls outside the scope of standard HR platforms. A scheduling and registration tool designed for internal company events, similar to how SignUpGo handles event registration, would streamline a process that HR teams currently manage through email RSVPs and manual headcounts. The data captured—attendance rates, session feedback, participation trends—would also inform future planning.
Building HR Tech Without Risking Your Current Role
HR executives building side projects face a unique sensitivity: you have access to employee data, compensation information, and organizational strategies that must remain strictly separate from any personal venture. This separation is not just ethical—it is often contractual. Review your employment agreement, non-compete clauses, and intellectual property assignment provisions before starting. In most cases, a side project that serves a different industry segment or company size than your current employer will fall clearly outside any restrictions.
The development process should be completely external to your company. Do not use your work laptop, work email, or company Slack to communicate about your side project. Engage a development partner like Sizzle Ventures who can provide a fully independent development environment, project management infrastructure, and communication channels. This clean separation protects both you and your employer.
Your validation process should focus on HR leaders outside your current organization. Tap into SHRM chapter meetings, HR executive roundtables, and online communities like the People Analytics & Future of Work group to test your concept. HR professionals are collaborative by nature and generally eager to discuss pain points and evaluate potential solutions. Five to ten conversations with HR leaders at companies in your target segment will give you the signal you need to commit to an MVP Sprint.
Go-to-Market for HR Technology Products
HR technology purchasing decisions are typically made by CHROs or VP-level HR leaders, with input from IT, procurement, and sometimes finance. Your sales strategy should target these decision-makers through the channels they trust most: peer recommendations, industry analyst reports, and professional community endorsements. A testimonial from a respected CHRO carries more weight than any marketing campaign.
The HR conference circuit is one of the most effective channels for reaching buyers. SHRM Annual, HR Tech Conference, and WorkHuman attract thousands of HR leaders actively looking for solutions to their biggest challenges. State and regional SHRM chapters host smaller events that offer more intimate networking opportunities. Speaking at these events—sharing insights from your own HR career, not just pitching your product—establishes credibility and generates inbound interest from exactly the right audience.
Pricing HR technology requires sensitivity to budget realities. Most HR departments operate on tighter budgets than their peers in sales, marketing, or engineering. Price per employee per month (PEPM) is the standard model, and rates of $2-8 PEPM are typical for point solutions. At $5 PEPM, a 500-employee company pays $2,500/month—an amount that sits comfortably within most HR technology budgets and delivers clear ROI if your product saves even a few hours of HR staff time per month. For identifying and reaching HR decision-makers at companies that match your ideal customer profile, UserFinder can help you build a targeted prospect list beyond your personal network.
Ready to Build Your Side Project?
Executives across every industry are turning side project ideas into real products—without pulling a single engineer off their core team. The key is working with a partner who understands both the technical execution and the strategic context of building alongside a day job.
Sizzle Ventures helps executives go from idea to launched product in as little as 90 days. Our MVP Sprint is built specifically for leaders who need speed without sacrificing quality—and without touching their internal dev team.
Ready to explore what's possible? Start a conversation with Sizzle about bringing your side project to life.