Asking for a stake means you need to see money to continue with a project.
The expression comes from the early days of bare-knuckle boxing, when promoters often stiffed the fighters by absconding with the gate money before the count of ten.
To ensure that they’d be paid, boxers insisted that their share of the money be placed in a pouch on a stake near the ring, where they could see it during the bout.
This was known as stake money.
