Legendary fund manager Joel Tillinghast says the best strategy for equity investors to achieve long-term success is to avoid big mistakes and discover companies that have been overlooked by most and yet have a high likelihood of delivering solid long-term gains. Tillinghast says if an investor wants to achieve great long-term portfolio performance, she need not choose the most exciting stocks, nor does she need to be bold and daring in such a pursuit. “A small mistake is generally easier to repair. Thinking small not only reduces the severity and frequency of errors, but also puts you in a better frame of mind to expect to fix them,” he says in his book