Value Investing Made Simple...

Apple(AAPL) is currently quoted at $373.72 and "49 out of 51 analysts currently rate Apple a "BUY" with an average price target of $497 a share" (according to Factset Data).  Apple's IPO on December 12, 1980 was at $22.00 a share.  If you had bought 1,000 shares at the IPO price your $22,000 investment would be worth $2.9 million today.
Somehow you have to see the value in the IPO to make those millions.  But you might be able to see some real value in today's Apple.  They have beat the street's estimates in the last 9 years, they have hundreds of billions in market cap and many billions in cash reserve, and made $7.3 billion net in July 2011.  This hidden value may last long enough to get you on the inner track.  
I'm not sure, but I think in '60s - '80s the world markets were more geared to bear markets in that the only way to make descent money was to invest long.  Since the advent of the Internet, globalization and things like higher rates of consumer securities investments, there has been more emphasis on growth phenomena, meaning some stocks have immediate explosive growth.  Therefore, instead of going for an Apple IPO in 1980 and waiting till 2011 to cash in, you might buy it short term today and make even more cash, quickly.