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'Shark Tank': Why did Hayley Pavone turn down Kevin O'Leary's royalty deal? Fans say she didn't get 'cornered'

'Shark Tank' fans are convinced that Pashion Footwear founder Hayley Pavone will be just fine despite not taking Kevin O'Leary 'bad deal'

Just like any other entrepreneur who comes on 'Shark Tank' to pitch for their company and raise some investments, Pashion Footwear founder, Hayley Pavone entered the tank with the same expectations. Hayley's innovative business idea of convertible heels that transform into flats immediately piqued the interest of sharks. 

Once the sharks got into the nitty-gritty of the company's performance, sales and revenue, one by one, sharks began to back away from making a deal. Hayley came in seeking $500,000 in exchange for 5% equity and the company had a valuation of $10 million. When she informed the sharks that she spent $90,000 per month on marketing, the sharks began seeing several red flags and were reluctant to pour in their money into Pashion Footwear. However, the only shark who wasn't deterred by the young entrepreneur's expenses and style of running a business was Mr Wonderful aka Kevin O'Leary.

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Kevin made a counteroffer of $500k for a 5% stake and a royalty deal of $5 per unit sold until $1 million is paid off. When Hayley first heard Kevin's offer she wasn't too keen on it due to the royalty clause attached to it. But she still went ahead and tried to persuade Kevin to drop the royalty, by sweetening the deal by increasing the equity stake to 8% from the original 5%. Kevin wasn't willing to budge, so Hayley decided that she wanted to hear the offers from other sharks before deciding on Kevin's. Unfortunately, when none of the sharks made an offer, the entrepreneur had no choice but to go back to Kevin.

Hayley once again tried to get Kevin to give up his royalty clause but failed at it. So, finally, Hayley decided to jump onto the royalty bandwagon and tries to check if Kevin would be alright with a lower royalty amount per unit sold, instead of his $5 ask. Kevin wasn't ready at all to tweak the offer, as he knew he was at an advantage, since no other sharks made an offer to her. 

But Hayley decided to play it smart and politely turned down Kevin's offer and decided to leave the tank without a deal, instead of paying royalties to a shark. Her logic was that the money that could be used for expansion and growth of the company would instead go away in royalties and she wasn't ready to do that. Fans were happy to see Hayley make the smart decision and leave the tank empty-handed rather than getting stuck in a deal that she wasn't entirely happy about.

A fan tweeted, "I LOVE HER! You do not need to be cornered girl! You do not have to make a bad deal! Go sell them shoes online honey! #SharkTank." Another fan wrote, "It's absolutely okay to walk away from a deal on #SharkTank we have seen others walk away and go on to make millions." "I feel SO BAD for that @PashionFootwear Lady! But, she will do it! @ABCSharkTank #SharkTank," declared a fan.

Fans also called out Kevin for being "mean" and "brutal". A fan shared, "Sorry no sorry but @kevinolearytv is mean sometimes. Wow. Brutal. @ABCSharkTank #SharkTank." "Sucks when he's the last one left and Mr. Wonderful gets to sit back in his chair with that sh*t-eating grin. #SharkTank," echoed a fan. 

'Shark Tank' Season 12 airs every Friday at 8/7c only on ABC.