I got paid/sponsored to work on a couple of projects. I had met some people from the company a couple of times and wrote something they wanted adapted to work

I got paid/sponsored to work on a couple of projects. I had met some people from the company a couple of times and wrote something they wanted adapted to work with their products but didn't want to invest in it. A few thousand to get me to do something I was going to do anyway at some point was a good way for them to get something that they wouldn't monetise directly. Not sure how to get a gig like that though :)