Marketcap is the most important factor when determining if a coin can go 10 to 100x. Not because the coin necessarily is a good store of value, but because the current market has shown what level of market cap it is willing to tolerate. We are still in the wild west days of the cryptocoin market. There is unfortunately less importance put on future promise than immediate returns. Just look at the number of coins that are fake at face value (looking at you picklericks) and tell me that low marketcap is not the primary means of determining "moons".
tl:dr - Low marketcap is directly linked to the probability of huge gains, but hopefully that won't always be the case.
While there are a few exceptions, you have to start with a
good coin. There many junk or so called shitcoins investors shouldn't touch even at a super "bargain".
Taking your generalized advise may lead so really major loses.
It all starts with a good project if that is not there then the coin may moon but it will be similar to winning the lottery if you choose the right coin it will be just because you were lucky, but if you choose a good project with a good road map and developers then the chances that coin moons are greater, it is not a sure thing but eventually you will get great profits if you hold for a long time.