All I did was as for a little more, hoping he'd meet me in the middle. Nothing crazy. While the position may have been entry-level I am not entry-level. I would have had to learn a lot of business-specific things but I already have a lot of production experience. Here is the text.
“Thanks so much for taking the time to write us back in such detail.
While your confidence and drive are things that got our attention during interviews we're concerned here that the number of items in our initial offer you feel are below your self valuation may indicate misalignment between the type of position you're seeking and the nature of [company's] Production Assistant opening as entry level. While we do like you tremendously – you were our top pick for the job – we also recognize that you will require extensive training from ground zero on an entirely new skill set (network engineering) in order for you to move up from PA to Event Tech. You have a far better idea of your worth than I or anyone else does but I can say on behalf of my business that I'm hesitant to even make a counter offer on the concern that your acceptance of an offer satisfying only a few of the requests you've made will result in you feeling undervalued from the start. It's not how I'd like you to feel and it's not a very good way to start out a working relationship that we truly intend to be long term. To be clear, our concern here isn't your interest or enthusiasm to moving up to ET from PA but rather the impression we can't meet the expectations you have for total compensation and terms for the entry level position of PA – a position you would inhabit for some time to come whether you were seeking to move up to an ET or not.
We're going to continue our search at this time. I truly want anyone we hire to start into a position feeling absolutely excellent and have developed concerns this entry level production assistant role may not meet your expectations.
I am genuinely thankful for the time you spent in process with us so far and wish you the very best in your search.”
and I have to share my response that my friend helped me draft because it's so classy: “Thank you for the detailed response to my negotiation email. Negotiation is a normal part of the hiring process and I was looking for you to meet me in the middle, and/or share where there might be wiggle room.
It’s really unfortunate that we landed here as I was excited about the role and ready to be dedicated to your company and this position.
Best of luck with your future business endeavors.”