How to Build a Calm Support Operation

In Episode 2 of the True Operators Podcast, ScaleMath’s CEO Alex Panagis talks with Antoine Minoux, founder of Fernand, about building calm support — an approach focused on clarity, craft, and systems that scale without chaos.

With multiple bootstrapped exits (including ImprovMX) behind him, Antoine shares how he applies this philosophy to both product and process — and why doing less, better leads to happier customers and a calmer team.

We dig into:

• When support becomes a growth lever (not a cost center)
• “Feature bloat” vs. focused tools — and why many teams only use 5 % of what they pay for
• Human-in-the-loop AI: smart drafts, clear escape hatches, and where full automation breaks for SaaS
• Free tier realities: using support to power word-of-mouth without drowning the team
• Scope creep & migrations: offering VIP help (intentionally) and staying transparent when you can’t
• Overstaffing support (on purpose) to fix root issues and close churn loops
• Calm companies: choosing craft over dashboards — and designing UX that keeps agents in flow
• Building with family, operating while part-time at a large company, and keeping the work…calm