I think this is the main differentiating point between 'failing' and 'acquihires' (from a user's perspective).

If a company is simply shutting down, there's some sympathy for the team and it's known that the service will stop. With a talent acquisition, nobody really knows what's going to happen to the service (maybe even the founders don't know) and that extra level of uncertainty is off-putting. [1]

Eventually, that extra level of uncertainty transfers over to the List Of Reasons Not to Work With Startups(TM).

[1] This is also true of straight acquisitions but there's a reasonable expectation that the acquirer is purchasing the product as well as the team.