This week at CES, a brand new ultrasonic chef’s knife picked up write-ups in The Verge, Mashable, and a handful of different retailers after debuting at Unveiled, the opening press occasion for the massive present in Las Vegas. With all of the protection rolling in, the product’s inventor, Scott Heimendinger, might really feel assured that all the things was going in keeping with plan after six years of labor to convey the knife to market, with one small exception.
He wasn’t there.
After all, Heimendinger had at all times deliberate to be at CES. A presence at Unveiled was a core a part of his launch technique, a plan that crystallized over the lengthy six years it took to convey the product from thought to actuality. However life intervened within the type of excruciating ache attributable to cervical radiculopathy, a situation through which nerves are impinged by discs and bone development within the neck. The ache grew to become so acute that when Heimendinger was provided the prospect to maneuver his surgical procedure up by two months final December, he took it.
Not that the choice got here simply.
Final fall, Heimendinger was on a name together with his longtime pal, Rand Fishkin, who was not happy with how he was dealing with issues.
“I used to be laid up in mattress, and all I might do was take out a laptop computer, completely simply drowned in high-dose ache and nerve meds and stuff, and Rand and I had just a little video chat,” Heimendinger instructed me over Zoom yesterday from Seattle. “And (Rand) principally threatened to talk at my early funeral if I didn’t take higher care of myself. Like, truly give attention to my well being.”
Slowing down didn’t come naturally. In any case, you don’t almost single-handedly launch a brand new client {hardware} product with out being wired to push by way of discomfort.
“That’s a tough factor for me to do,” Heimendinger mentioned. “I’ve form of been in power-through mode endlessly, proper? Like my entire life, it’s similar to, ‘Oh, what do you do? You energy by way of.’”
Ultimately, Heimendinger relented, realizing his pal was proper. From there, he started planning for his small workforce – a single advertising lead and a part-time PR consultant – to deal with sales space obligation at Unveiled with out him. He was bummed. CES could be the primary time many members of the press would get hands-on with the knife he’d unveiled on-line within the fall, and he knew how simply a small workforce might get overwhelmed by the roughly 2,000 journalists biking by way of Unveiled throughout its three-hour run.
When Heimendinger instructed Fishkin how disenchanted he was to overlook CES and the way a lot the second meant to him, Fishkin made an sudden supply: he and his spouse would go in his place.
“And, you already know, usually I’d simply say, like, ‘Oh, that’s so good of you guys, thanks a lot, however no, it’ll be tremendous,’” Heimendinger mentioned. “However I mentioned, I’m going to attempt one thing new and take a look at accepting just a little extra assist when it’s provided. And I mentioned, ‘Truly, if you happen to’re critical, that may be unimaginable.’”
It made sense. As Heimendinger’s first investor and sole board member of his firm, Fishkin was deeply conversant in the product and its backstory. He’s additionally a seasoned marketer identified for his viral movies explaining expertise and enterprise traits, whereas his spouse, Geraldine DeRuiter, is knowledgeable writer with a powerful communications background.
“So that they’re well-versed in how one can discuss in regards to the knife and may accomplish that authentically,” Heimendinger mentioned. “And so I mentioned sure and accepted their assist, they usually have been critical and made good on it.”
Ultimately, the knife didn’t want its inventor bodily behind the desk to make an impression. Journalists lined as much as attempt it, protection adopted rapidly, and the ensuing long-tail protection Heimendinger had hoped for got here off as deliberate.
For these in the knife itself, it makes use of high-frequency vibration, oscillating 40,000 occasions per second, to scale back resistance because the blade strikes by way of meals. Heimendinger says that the knife can scale back slicing effort by as much as 50 p.c. When powered off, it features like a standard, high-quality chef’s knife.
The C-200 is made with Japanese AUS-10 san mai stainless-steel, might be re-sharpened like a standard blade, and is now out there for presale at $499, with deliveries anticipated in January 2026.
For a product six years within the making, CES didn’t unfold precisely as Heimendinger imagined. However generally, even for somebody who’s spent a lifetime powering by way of, crucial step ahead is studying when to let another person take the wheel — or, on this case, the knife.
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