Utah Valley: Heart of Utah

uilding a student following in that
graduates tended to gravitate toward
Qualtrics as the research solution
of choice once they entered the
professional world. Students turned
professionals understood that Qualtrics
offered the capabilities needed to
easily collect, analyze, and act on
data-driven decisions.
Today, the company boasts nearly
7,000 diverse customers, among them
JetBlue, Gogo, Kellogg’s, Crate and Barrel,
The Weather Channel, Neiman Marcus,
MasterCard, Land’s End, eHarmony, E*TRADE,
and Citrix.
Success for Qualtrics is due, in part, to its
savvy growth strategy and scrappy can-do
attitude. From the beginning, Smith imposed
a rule that the company could not rely on
outside funding.
“Scott is a brilliant serial entrepreneur and
innovator,” Orgill says. “He is great at keeping
expenses in control and helping young
people maximize their potential.”
Under Smith’s guidance, the company
did not consider investment funding for
nearly a decade, at which time, Qualtrics was
already highly profitable and bringing in $50
million in annual revenue. The savvy, driven
team successfully established several years
of revenue, profits, and happy customers.
It was only over time, after the
owners had moved into the 100,000
square foot office in Provo, and as
its client base continued to grow,
that Qualtrics considered offers from
venture capitalists.
“Seeing the vision of where the
company could go and after careful
consideration, we determined the
need to scale the business at an
accelerated rate,” Orgill says. “At that
point, we saw the value of tapping
into the talents of such companies as
Accel Partners and Sequoia Capital.”
That is when, in 2012, Qualtrics
accepted initial Series A funding of
$70 million from Sequoia Capital and
Accel Partners, putting Qualtrics in
the national spotlight. The more
recent Series B round of $150 million,
led by Insight Venture Partners, has further
established the company as a major player in
the insights market.
“At one point, Qualtrics was also offered
$500 million dollars to sell, which means the
founders could have easily retired for life.
But it’s rare that are you given the opportunity
to do something truly great,” Orgill says. “My
plan back in 2002 was to stay in Utah for
just a little while to help my friend and then
move to California to do some consulting
work, get an MBA, and then eventually do
something entrepreneurial,” Orgill continues.
“But I came to realize that this opportunity
was simply too unique. I could have looked
the rest of my life for an experience similar
to the one I was having at Qualtrics, and I
probably wouldn’t have found one this good.
Still to this day, Qualtrics energizes me and
our more than 650 employees.”
✧
Above: Practicing transparency in all
they do, this is just one of the many all glass
office spaces for employees to work and
meet in.
Below: With over 600 employees working
onsite, Qualtrics makes sure its employees
have plenty of kitchen space to hang out
and refuel.
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