I spend 3 hours extracting all takeaways from Chris Mayer’s book 100‑Baggers (plus Phelps’ older data) so you don't have to. Across 365 stocks that returned 100× from 1962–2014, here is what Mayer found:

1) The math

To 100×, it takes patience:

• 14% CAGR for 35 years
• 16.6% CAGR for 30 years
• 20% CAGR for 25 years
• 26% CAGR for 20 years
• 36% CAGR for 15 years

Almost all multibaggers compounded steadily for decades. This is why we need exceptional management knowing how to deploy capital. Half of the 100-baggers in the sample took 16-30 years.

2) Starting size

Size matters - but we want the small ones:

• Microcaps-preferred: 68% of multibaggers had a market cap of <300M$ (=Microcap) at their low
• Fewer than 15% started above 1B
• First‑year sales were between 100M and 1B Fun fact: 40% of all stocks (generally) in the market are Microcaps.

3) Growth!

We prefer:

• High Sales Growth AND
• High Earnings per Share (EPS) Growth (this adjusts for buybacks and dilution..)

..But it can also be only one: You can have high sales over years without high EPS growth to grow a customer base to be monetized later (Amazon; WhatsApp..); Or only high EPS growth through margin expansion or buybacks (effectively reducing the shares outstanding so you get more of the pie)

4) Valuation - Lower Multiples preferred

Don't pay stupid prices.

• Low PE to start with (e.g. 5-10)
• PEG <= 1 preferred (e.g. PE 12 for 14% earnings growth)

...This gives room for "multiple expansion" -> the market is ok with paying a higher price for the same earnings (due to consistency, market environment, hype)

But don't go "dumpster diving" -> better pay a fair price for a great business, than a great price for a fair business.

5) Return metrics

Consistent returns on what the capital is used for is critical. He mentioned 3 important metrics:

• ROIC: >20%
• ROE: >20%
• ROA: >20% (in reality, you seldom find this is stocks)

No matter what the stock price does - look at these metrics to find if the business is struggling.

6) MOAT

Several moats available (find out what keeps competitors out):

• Distribution/logistics
• Brand
• Network effects
• Regulations
• Switching costs
• Cost structure

7) Reinvestment runway

They always had a place to shove more capital:

• New products
• New regions
• Distribution scaling
• More units at strong economics
• Avoiding high dividends, if they had high ROIC (better use of capital; "expensive luxury")

High ROIC only mattered because they could reinvest into it.

8) Founder-led preferred

• Over 60% were founder‑led in the main compounding window.
• Owner-operator setups beat the rest by 7% per year on average!
• 10–20%+ insider ownership was normal

->Better capital allocation and alignment with shareholders (reduces "agency risk")

9) The actual ride

• Median time to 100×: 21–25 years. Be ready to delete your broker app from your phone ;)
• Most experienced at least one 50% drawdown.
• More than half experienced a 70% drawdown.
• Years of “nothing happening” were normal.

10) Lessons to save money

• Avoid chronic diluters (high issuance of new shares)
• Avoid firms that depend on big acquisitions
• Avoid negative equity accounting
• Avoid countries where rule of law for minority shareholders is unreliable (China stands out historically)
• Avoid commodity‑tied businesses -> asset-light business models preferred
• Avoid companies that expand assets faster than EBITDA

TLDR - Screen for:

• Market cap under 1B
• ROIC/ROE/ROA at least 20%
• Organic revenue growth 10%+, EPS 15%+
• MOAT of at least 3/5 stars (ask your favorite LLM based on the 6 MOATs I gave above)
• Low dilution (<5%)
• Founder-led preferred
• A history of consistent growth (at least 3 years)
• Reasonable valuation (PEG <= 1); lower multiples preferred

What did I miss?

What's your best pick for the next multibagger?