Funding for accountability and motivation?

My advice - reduce the number of side projects you're working on and focus only on one. I'm working on making the final decision to extract us from one of two businesses (one has potential, the other really does not). Not for motivational purposes, because I don't lack that but because there's only so much time in the day and to make one business successful requires dedication, focus, and a ton of effort.

I did two accelerator programs last year and that was some of the advice fellow founders gave me - don't try to do to much (scope creep, feature overload, multiple distribution channels, etc) or you won't accomplish your goal of building a successful business.

If you're looking for that amount of money, angel investment is the way to go. Very few firms will be interested in a check size that small.

That being said, I would recommend not taking any money if you don't need it. You'd be giving away equity and not getting much in return. The idea of preorders like @radiomorillo mentioned is a good one. Another way to say this is to just talk to customers, see what you would need to build for them to pay for it, and use that as motivation. Happy building!

I released my first eBook as a pre-order last year and gave myself six weeks to finish it and publish it. :) The pre-orders absolutely kept me accountable because now I had a product to build. Although, my goal was to make money for it, not to ask people for money that I didn't need or want.

If your goal is to actually turn a project into a product, I'd recommend the pre-order route or creating a Kickstarter campaign!