There’s a long list of shiny products that claim to help with losing weight, and Minus Cal bars are another addition. Founders Crom Carmichael and Barrett Jacques claimed their protein bar could block fat absorption. They pitched on Shark Tank but didn’t get a deal. Minus Cal is worth $0 as they went out of business in 2020.
Two Unlikely Entrepreneurs
Raised in South Bend, Indiana, Crom Carmichael met Barrett Jacques when he moved to Nashville. Both men are alumni of Vanderbilt University, where Crom got a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Barrett earned a business degree.
Carmichael began his career as a columnist for the Nashville Tennessean. Then, he became a business and political commentator for WLAC-AM and WSMV-TV. After retiring from his media career, he worked as an angel investor.
On the other hand, Jacques initially made a name for himself in the music industry. After college, he signed a recording contract with Sony Music Nashville as a member of the six-person band Go Down Moses.
How Minus Cal Came to Life
Barrett Jacques came across Choleve through his work in the health and biotech industry. Choleve is a fermented tea extract that had been studied for lowering cholesterol. Researchers noticed it also helped patients lose weight as a side effect.
He worked with Crom to extract Choleve from green tea and increased the concentration by 20 times. Otherwise, you would need to drink gallons of green tea to get the health benefits from Choleve.
The business launched in 2017 and the founders claimed the supplement had the ability to keep the small intestine from taking in fat.
Clashing with Mark Cuban on Shark Tank
Crom and Barrett appeared on season 11, asking for $500,000 in return for a 20% equity stake. The guys got off to a bad start as Robert Herjavec said the product didn’t taste good and the old man responded by saying “what?”.
The entrepreneurs went on with their presentation, but the Sharks were out for blood. Mark Cuban was skeptical and questioned the validity of their claims. Carmichael fought back to defend the product but Barrett was more timid.
The Sharks also didn’t like the valuation, especially as they didn’t have substantial sales to back it up. Not surprisingly, the duo left the Tank emptied handed.
The Downfall of Minus Cal
Near the end of the episode, Cuban warned the audience not to buy any of the products. It appears viewers took the billionaire’s advice as the company struggled after Shark Tank. The weight loss industry is a highly competitive space and Minus Cal didn’t have the money to spend on advertising.
Minus Cal’s social media presence went quiet in 2019 and they later shut down its online store. The lack of product-specific clinical trials was a red flag for customers; the founders had relied on third-party studies of Choleve rather than independent testing of Minus Cal itself. Minus Cal officially went out of business in 2020, and didn’t release any sales figures.
Customers who tried the product mostly published negative reviews, it averaged 2 stars on Amazon out of 16 ratings. Positive reviews highlighted that protein bars were filling and decreased their appetite but tasted bad. One user claimed to have lost 25 pounds but this can’t be verified. Most recent reviews were from Shark Tank fans who just watched the episode and have never used the product.
Today, Carmichael is the CEO and founder of Nashai Biotech LLC, a pharmaceutical research and development company. He also runs Soltea, a heart health supplement brand, and hosts a podcast called From Our Generation.
Jacques is CEO of Shield Health, a chronic care management company that supports physicians by managing Medicare patients through virtual care – nurses call, text, and email patients throughout the month to coordinate care plans.
