It's no surprise that money is a great motivator. Today's solution-seekers are learning that cold, hard cash is the key to staying one step ahead of the competition. As an Entrepreneur article points out, it all started in 1927 when Charles Lindbergh made his famed solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic for a $25,000 prize.

Companies like Netflix and Google are catching on and following suit. Netflix is offering a $1 million reward to anyone who can improve their current movie-recommendation software by at least 10 percent. So far, it's been a year--and still no winner. Netflix is trying to keep programmers motivated by offering $50,000 prizes to whoever comes closest to the 10 percent improvement. Google is also getting in on the prize wars. The company is offering $10 million in award money for people who build the best software to enhance the company's upcoming cell phone operating system. Entries can be received from January 2 to March 3, 2008. Judges will select 50 winners who will each receive $25,000 and be eligible for ten awards of $100,000 and ten awards of $275,000. The big money comes into play in the second phase of the competition when another $5 million in prize money is at stake.