[jmaskell]

I got this a lot. I think it was the cause of me not getting a few job offers. It's good to pre-empt the concern and be clear about wanting to take what you learnt on to another project.

What I found hardest was trying to explain that I also didn't want the stress and emotional ride of running a company for a while - without coming across as lazy or unmotivated.

[Peroni]

Your last point is a great litmus test. Startups are stressful and emotional by nature, not to mention the ridiculous time commitment required.

Any company that fails to empathise with that is a company worth avoiding.

[SatvikBeri]

I found it helpful to say I wanted to spend at least 50% of my more time focusing on (programming/statistics/marketing/whatever the role was for), as compared to the very generalist role you have to play when owning your own business.

The emotional roller coaster is somewhat implicit in this, as some roles (e.g. customer-facing ones) are much more emotionally demanding than others.