I recently discovered SawStop at a woodworking store I love, and while I’ve not seen their famous safety demo in person, the videos are absolutely arresting.

Picture this: A hot dog — standing in for a finger — deliberately and quickly pushed into a screaming table saw blade.

In less than 5 milliseconds (faster than your nerves can transmit sensation), the blade stops and DISAPPEARS below the table.

The wiener barely has a nick. A tiny Band-Aid would be all it needs.

Cue tears of joy, gratitude — and astonishment.

Despite owning a really good Bosch table saw I hadn’t planned on replacing anytime soon, I can’t help but deeply covet this innovation. I’m terrified of my saw, and know that’s a good thing.

The power of this demo perfectly illustrates what I call in I Need That the “safety need flip” — a psychological transformation where peace of mind becomes more valuable than any other product attribute. As I describe in Chapter 8, safety needs are uniquely powerful for triggering the “flip.”

You see a powerful safety demonstration like this. And suddenly, you NEED something you never did before, so bad it hurts.

In case you’re curious, let’s go further into my SawStop example. Here’s how the actual technology works:

The blade carries a small electrical signal. When skin contacts the blade, the signal changes because human tissue, unlike wood, is conductive. (Apparently wieners are conductive too.)

This triggers an aluminum brake that springs into the spinning blade, stopping it and driving it down beneath the table almost instantly.

The statistics explain why this matters: Over 30,000 table saw injuries occur yearly in America. That’s 82 people every day, with 10% resulting in amputations.

That’s 3,000 chopped-off somethings, with real blood, and 3,000 something-owners who are never whole again.

Dr. Steve Gass, SawStop’s inventor, did way more than invent a cool safety feature.

He instigated a fear so profound that he could completely redefine a mature market that hadn’t fundamentally changed in decades.

Product Payoff: SawStop completely REDEFINED what customers expect from the entire category. Despite charging a premium (their saws often cost 2-3 times more than competitors!), they’ve become the #1 cabinet saw in North America. When the stakes are high enough (like keeping all your fingers), buyers willingly pay significantly more for peace of mind. This powerful need-driven positioning helped the company grow from startup to industry leader in just a few years. In established sub-categories of the power tool world, that pretty much never happens.

Action for today: Take an honest look at your product category’s “accepted risks” — the dangers or frustrations users have simply learned to live with. Could fundamentally solving one of these issues completely redefine your category? Your biggest opportunity may not be adding features, but removing fears.

Want to explore how safety and peace of mind might transform your product’s positioning? Tap that reply arrow with one of your remaining fingers, and let’s discuss what anxiety your offering could eliminate. Or reach out to my team of product marketing strategists at Graphos Product.