s/shipwrecked/third world/ The original poster specifically mentioned that he was looking for problems to raise the standard of living: I would consider any d

s/shipwrecked/third world/ The original poster specifically mentioned that he was looking for problems to raise the standard of living: I would consider any difficult yet solvable (in the near future) problem - that upon solving would ultimately raise some standard of living - to fall into the "important problem" category In that context, a startup that made a device that could desalinize water cheaply would be solving an important problem. A startup that helped me share files between my phone and computer would not, though it would probably be more profitable.