When facing a ticket tsunami, hiring more people is like handing out more buckets on a sinking ship. It might keep you afloat for a while, but bailing only works when the boat is still above water. Trying to assemble a haphazard bucket brigade through too-rapid staffing in an effort to stay ahead of the deluge is futile when you're already sunk. Instead of trying to increase your capacity, focus on deeply understanding the drivers of your volume. In other words, build a submarine and map the contours of your ocean of tickets.

There’s a scene in the 2008 Pixar flick Wall-e, where our helpful little robot protagonist is suddenly launched into space, holding on for dear life to the outside of a rocket. It’s a perfect metaphor for support’s experience at startups when that first inflection point hits.