# Sean Whiteley

> Sean Whiteley is a three-time enterprise software founder and President of Qualified, the AI pipeline generation platform he co-built with long-time partner Kraig Swensrud. Having navigated every major tech platform shift - from on-premise to cloud to AI - across a 30-year career that includes stints at AOL, PwC, PeopleSoft, webMethods, and Salesforce, Sean brings rare pattern recognition to go-to-market strategy. His companies have a track record of building deep inside the Salesforce ecosystem and exiting to strategic acquirers: Kieden to Salesforce (2006), GetFeedback to SurveyMonkey (2019), and now Qualified to Salesforce again (2025), in a deal that cements his legacy as one of enterprise software's most consistent repeat founders.

- **Role:** President at Qualified (pending acquisition by Salesforce)
- **Organizations:** Qualified, GetFeedback, Kieden, Salesforce, webMethods, PeopleSoft, Price Waterhouse, America Online, Grand Central Communications
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** BS, Business Administration and Management, Villanova University
- **Known for:** Three-time founder with three successful company exits, Co-founded Kieden (acquired by Salesforce, 2006), Co-founded GetFeedback (acquired by SurveyMonkey, 2019)

## Career timeline

- **1994-1996** — Began career in enterprise software after graduating from Villanova University
- **1995-1997** — Systems Engineer at America Online (AOL)
- **1996-2000** — Developer at PwC (Price Waterhouse Coopers)
- **2000-2004** — Roles at PeopleSoft and webMethods during the on-premise enterprise software era
- **2004-2005** — Sales Director at Grand Central Communications
- **2005-2006** — Co-founded Kieden, an advertising platform integrating Salesforce data with Google AdWords
- **2006** — Kieden acquired by Salesforce.com; Sean joins as employee
- **2006-2012** — SVP & GM at Salesforce.com; helped spearhead Salesforce/Google alliance, co-launched Service Cloud and Salesforce Chatter
- **2013** — Co-founded GetFeedback with Kraig Swensrud, Bing Yang, and Gopal Patel - the first mobile-first CX feedback platform for Salesforce
- **2019** — GetFeedback acquired by SurveyMonkey / Campaign Monitor
- **2018** — Co-founded Qualified, the conversational sales and marketing platform for Salesforce customers
- **2020** — Qualified raises $12M Series A
- **2021** — Qualified raises $51M Series B
- **2022** — Qualified raises $95M Series C led by Sapphire Ventures
- **2025** — Salesforce announces definitive agreement to acquire Qualified; deal expected to close Q1 FY2027

## Achievements

- Three-time founder with three successful company exits
- Co-founded Kieden (acquired by Salesforce, 2006)
- Co-founded GetFeedback (acquired by SurveyMonkey, 2019)
- Co-founded Qualified, raised $163M total funding and reached Series C
- Played key role in launching Salesforce Service Cloud (which became Salesforce's second $1B product)
- Helped spearhead the landmark Salesforce/Google Cloud alliance in 2007
- Instrumental in building Salesforce Chatter, the enterprise social network
- Built Qualified into the #1 AI pipeline generation platform for Salesforce customers
- Designated 'Entrepreneur Trailblazers' by Salesforce alongside co-founder Kraig Swensrud

## Latest updates

- **2025-12** — Salesforce announces definitive agreement to acquire Qualified; deal expected to close Q1 FY2027
- **2025-04** — Sean shared a LinkedIn post about founding Qualified to give marketers a pipeline generation platform, in the context of the Salesforce acquisition announcement
- **2022-04** — Qualified closes $95M Series C funding round led by Sapphire Ventures
- **2025** — Qualified recognized as the #1 AI pipeline generation platform for Salesforce customers

## Links

- Website: https://qualified.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/seanwhiteley
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/seanwhiteley
- GitHub: https://github.com/seanwhiteley
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/whiteley/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/sean-whiteley
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-22