[redguava]

I disagree with having developers do tech support. In fact I think it's insulting to those that are great at tech support. Tech support is a skill in itself, not just a place to let developers play.

If you really care about support, you'll have people with that expertise doing it.

Also, developing is really something where being in the zone gets the most productivity, and support is usually an intermittent and sporadic distraction, it can be a real productivity killer.

I see why people say this in pricinple, I just don't think it's a good idea in practice.

[kragen]

Tech support is a skill in itself, but it's also a crucial feedback channel for learning how users use your software. Empathy with users is what lets you distinguish a good programming decision from a bad programming decision when it comes to the software. Distinguishing good programming decisions from bad ones is what programmers do all day.

It's possible for tech support to work out as a disruptive distraction, but it doesn't always have to be that way. And yes, there are programming things where being in the zone is crucial, but there are usually programming things where it isn't, too.

[jakobe]

We are talking about early stage startups here. I don't think it's a good idea to hire dedicated tech support people at an early stage startup.

Hiring tech support staff is for later, when the product is solid, and the developers can't handle the flood of support requests any more.