Depends on the coin, if you wait the long the developers will dump and run away with your coins! Assuming you have picked a good one with a good solid team then yes patience is the key. Give devs time to produce the product and then you will see a big price rise.
If you are referring to some alt then its ok to say this. Development requires time some have it others dont so with right pick you can gain high profit.
Its not just the devs sometimes they switch to another project cuz they think it bad for them and community let say support this coin.
For me alt are better for long run.