I am a software engineer and fairly early adopter of Bitcoin. I have also recently quit my job.
I have a fairly large amount of Bitcoin that I would like to invest into bettering the Bitcoin community.
What is a product or service the industry is lacking or that can be done better?
I would love to get it up and running.
1) Without a doubt, fund development of a fully decentralized, trustless exchange, and hire Andreas Antonopoulos to consult on it from beginning to end.
2) Contact Gavin, lead programmer, and ask him how you can fund programming efforts to address Bitcoins biggest needs right now, such as "more than 7 transactions per second". Expedite the "to do" list that isn't getting done. So much seems to be pending, and very little progress on Bitcoin development. If you need to contact him directly, let me know, I can get the info.
3) Buy several hundred ATM's and get them installed around the country. Lamasu ones are cheapest at $5,000. The more of these there are, in high profile locations, the more Bitcoin will grow in acceptance and name recognition.
4) Take a huge chunk of your Bitcoins and have thousands of paper wallets created with $1 worth on them. Hand them out to 100,000 people and make sure the press knows about it. Or do an air drop from a plane over a stadium full of people. Like Auroracoin is doing over Icleand soon. And make sure the media is all over it.
5) Hire a large group of intelligent people to comment on every single Bitcoin article there is in the media, as soon as it goes live, so their comments are at the top, correcting misinformation, and addressing the nonsense posted by others. I still believe the comments section has more sway over public opinion than the article itself sometimes.
6) Hire people to go every homeless person in every city and get them set up with donation QR code signs of their own, so they can begin holding them at street corners. You may also need to provide a method by which they can cash in their donations of course. The hundreds of thousands of people seeing Bitcoin QR codes on every street corner will not only get Bitcoin's name out there, but it will show that Bitcoin can be used for helping people as well. Seans outpost may be a good place to start for resources and suggestions. They're doing a microcosm version of this, but I envision tens of thousands of QR code signs being handed out to homeless people around the country/world. Free marketing for Bitcoin and quite a beautiful way to improve its reputation.
7) Expedite the remittances market revolution. Don't give Western Union time to "incorporate" Bitcoin. Do it yourself. Establish a company providing remittance services for people sending money home to family and friends, for a micro-fraction of the cost that Western Union charges. Obviously Bitcoin can already do this, but there is no easy way for poor people with few resources to take advantage of it. Set up a service that addresses their needs, and markets itself as the alternative to western union. Keep the fees as close to zero as possible. Bitcoin is assured to be a replacement for WU. You could be the first to get that ball really rolling.
8 ) Contact the companies currently working to replace the text-SMS-money-sending services in Africa with Bitcoin. There are two companies I am aware of, and I am certain they could use funding and assistance. Getting the Africa market would be huge.
The Bitcoin system should be viewed as an entirely new, uncharted world of innovation and entrepreneurism. Imagine the current financial system with nobody providing products and services for it yet. That's what Bitcoin is. Anything you can possibly think of under the sun, hasn't been done yet. And can be done. Someone just created a company offering insurance services for Bitcoin holdings. Lloyds of London is doing something similar with another company. What other big money making services are there in the financial world right now that could be duplicated for Bitcoin? The world is your oyster. With nearly everything, you'll be the first to do it.
Your best bet is to start using your many bitcoins on a daily basis. You will likely run into some problems in doing so. Solve those problems with software.
Software, or a service. Another great suggestion. Immerse yourself in trying to live entirely on Bitcoin. You will quickly see a "need" that must be met. Probably many. Successful endeavours always "meet a need" that isn't being met.
-B-
