If support volume grows, there are three options: 1.) hire more staff 2.) keep staffing levels the same and force workers to take on more for the same pay or 3.) look at why support volume is growing and a) fix some avoidable reasons that require support ( small fixes in UX can go a long way ) , b) automatically solve some of the support issues ( improved documentation ), and c) have the support staff build themselves better tools so they can more efficiently handle the support volume rise.

If you are an owner, #3 will not only improve your products, but also likely to make your entire company much more valuable over time. If the staff are also owners or there is a system in place such that the staff benefits when the owners benefit, they will likely be on board for #3 as well. If #3 is not sufficient enough to provide support, then hiring should be done.

There is another option: Raise prices.

The article explicitly mentions it isn't likely applicable to support roles in a footnote.

How do the employees feel about it? I’d bet a lot of money they’re in the top 5% retention among tech companies. Also they’re probably pretty happy to avoid the constant churn and failed projects of working in a company desperately chasing hypergrowth.

I imagine customers are pretty happy too knowing that they aren’t at risk of the company being flipped and the product discontinued or bloated in order to attract the next order of magnitude growth from corporate buyers who will themselves never use the product.

Your last sentence is the most laughably ironic since the entire VC game is to extract value from the energy and drive of young people with the promises of Facebook riches which will only ever materialize for a vanishingly small number of individuals, especially amongst the rank and file.

how is it ironic? that was exactly my point.

It's ironic is because Basecamp is the anti-VC tech company. They have better work-life balance, more modest ambitions, and less buzzword-worthy tech than the prototypical SV company. Assuming this is about hoodwinking some of the best-treated employees in tech shows goes against everything they've been preaching for the last 15 years.