Unless it's a hobby or an intellectual exercise, a brilliant solution without a customer/market is a waste of time at all scales, destined to moulder.

Chances are, you'd approach Town Hall with the solution to all their pothole problems and they would ignore it. To make it worthwhile, you'd either have to have earlier signed a contract with Town Hall to figure out their potholes (ie. have a customer) or develop a business based on your solution (ie. develop a market).