Failed 2024

    Qualtrics (Silver Lake buyout)

    SAP bought Qualtrics for $8B, IPO'd it at $27B, then Silver Lake took it private for $12.5B — a confusing value destruction journey.

    Founded → Closed

    2002 → 2024

    Funding Raised

    $400M

    Industry

    SaaS/Enterprise

    Country

    USA

    IdeaProof AI Failure Score

    42/100
    Market Fit RiskBurn Rate RiskFounder Risk
    Market Fit Risk
    70
    Burn Rate Risk
    40
    Founder Risk
    15

    Full Analysis

    Qualtrics had a bizarre journey: founded in a basement, acquired by SAP for $8B pre-IPO, then SAP IPO'd Qualtrics at $27B peak market cap. When SAP took Qualtrics private again via Silver Lake at $12.5B, investors from the IPO lost significantly. While not a traditional "failure," the roundtrip destroyed billions in shareholder value.

    Could This Failure Have Been Prevented?

    IdeaProof's AI validates market demand, competitive positioning, and business model viability in minutes — catching the exact issues that sank Qualtrics (Silver Lake buyout).