I would say become an angel investor. A small amount of money can make a big difference to some people. Most Y-combinator companies start with under $20k. If

I would say become an angel investor. A small amount of money can make a big difference to some people. Most Y-combinator companies start with under $20k. If you need help evaluating what companies to invest in, get a multitude of opinions (I will give you an opinion for free, just shoot me an email: gavanw@gmail.com -- I enjoy criticizing companies!). I would recommend investing in companies that most VCs won't fund - namely, game companies (naturally I am biased here). Games are the "easiest" products to monetize and get traction for, assuming you have a capable team that is making something interesting (i.e. not a clone). Think of it this way: how many users look forward to a particular game coming out? Now how many users look forward to a given Web 2.0 product? Kickstarter is hard proof that users are more interested in games than other types of products. There is a lot of room for innovation in games -- whereas it is very hard to think of good ideas for typical startups. The time it will take you to learn to code well enough to create a decent startup (read: nontrivial) is at least 1 year (and even that is a stretch), and that will cost you maybe 50k depending on the salary you give yourself. On the other hand, you could buy an experienced software engineer (with 50k + good equity). On the other hand, you can start a business outside of software. Some of the most obvious businesses make buttloads of money: cleaning services, car washes (I know a guy who runs a carwash and makes over 3 million a year). I am obviously not the leading expert on any given matter, these are just my humble opinions. :)