Improving medical technology with a goal of curing currently-uncurable diseases, making health care cheap enough to make Medicare sustainable (perhaps specifically by looking for ways to eliminate 90% of the costs associated with the half dozen or so families of diseases that Medicare finds most expensive), and improve quality of life with better treatments.

Better transportation infrastructure, especially high speed rail. (Notice how the French have better track than the Germans because the Germans put off investment while playing with maglev; Elon Musk might be at risk for repeating the same mistake in the US with Hyperloop.)

Fiber optic cable to just about every building in the world, owned by people who charge at a rate that isn't much higher than the construction cost and don't try to keep charging more and more for higher data rates.

Possibly some more good parks.

We need cheap solar and batteries too, but I think those things are likely inevitable given enough time at this point.

What we need to stop doing is strictly equating profit with money. A venture can be extremely profitable without making a dime if it improves people's lives in a significant way. Money is only a tool to accomplish this, and monetary profits are only loosely correlated to true profits, the kind that add value to the world by making a it a healthier, happier place.

If I had money to invest, I would invest in the impact.

The biggest wins have been to invest in advertising and walled-gardens. I much prefer the thought of investing in people though, that which can make the greatest difference to individuals.

I don't have money, but I do have time and skill. And my money is where my mouth is, the idea I'm working on does need to be profitable to self-sustain, but the goal I have is to change lives of individuals.

To me it doesn't matter that others don't define this as winning. I think their definition is faulty.