This is exactly the kind of person I'm talking about in the post. You're here, you've got the skills, and you've been sitting on the sidelines because the system doesn't have a clear path for someone who just wants to build and get paid for it. That's a problem.
As for the mechanics, I think there are a few ways it could work. A blanket DHF proposal that funds a bounty pool is probably the most realistic starting point. You don't need core changes for that. Someone or some group manages the pool, posts bounties with clear scope and payout amounts, devs claim them, deliver, get paid. It's not perfect and there are trust questions around who manages the pool, but it's doable right now with what we have.
Longer term, yeah, something built into the chain itself would be better. A proper bounty system where funds are held in escrow and released on completion with some kind of review process. But that's a bigger conversation and honestly we don't need to wait for it to start doing this.
The first step is just getting that list of needs together and putting a price on things. Even if the first round is small and scrappy, it proves the concept. And once people see devs actually delivering scoped work and getting paid for it cleanly, I think the support follows.
Consider yourself on the list.
General purpose smart contracts could fill the gap here too. I'm looking forward for L1 smart contracts as they could give way to real innovation on the chain with trustless solutions. The current HE system is problematic in decentralization terms.