In a recent article, The Wall Street Journal reported that investment firm Tide Rock buys up small companies as private-equity firms do, but it shuns the often steep debt that buyout shops use to fund acquisitions.

In another article, The Deal reported that Tide Rock seeks companies that either have strong reoccurring customers, are resilient because they have diverse customers or operate in an industry with low volatility, or that sell essential products or services to loyal customer bases.

What is the Tide Rock team getting right that others miss, and what can we learn from it?

We ask Tide Rock President Brooks Kincaid how unlevered buyouts work, what that tells us about the leverage accepted in traditional private equity, why that matters for founders looking to exit or grow, and Tide Rock’s operations mindset.