Daily Crunch: Stealth startup Figure releases the first photos of its universal humanoid robot

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The businessroundups.org Top 3

• My friends call me Murphy; you call me figure: It’s “iRobot” coming to life: figure emerges from stealth with the first images of his humanoid robot, Brian reports. The robots are currently being tested on manual tasks such as those performed in warehouses, manufacturing and retail.
• Can I help you?: Customer relationships there became equally unpredictable during the global pandemic when customers, no longer able to go to a physical store, also didn’t feel like sitting on a phone or spending hours with a chatbot. Now flush with $23.5 million in new funding, Attio offers no-code customer relationship management software. Kyle has more.
• Noodles around: Naomi Osaka, Usher and Apolo Ohno are the latest celebrities to support instant ramen startup Immi, which aims to put its hot bowl of comfort food in every household across the country, Christine writes.

Startups and VC

Former Facebook exec turned VC Chamath Palihapitiya has long been a controversial figure in the investment world. The investor says it could take three years for the market to “accurately” reprice late-stage companies. Connie reports.

In the meantime, Connie also reports that Felicis announced today that it has closed its ninth flagship fund at $825 million, compared to the $600 million core fund it announced in summer 2021. The vehicle brings the company’s total assets under management to $3 billion. The fund closed 50% more deals last year than in 2021, some because prices were still rising – and it says it has no regrets.

And a few more stories to calm the ferocious beast:

How to turn an open source project into a profitable business

Many developers rely on donations and crowdfunding to monetize open source projects, but with the right planning, teams can deploy their work to commercial clients that will put them in a higher tax bracket.

Offering customer support or consulting services to users are common revenue streams, according to product development consultant Victoria Melnikova, who also says developers should form partnerships and use platforms like Reddit and Hacker News to reach potential paying customers.

“To find your path, talk to your clients and understand their goals and pains.”

Three more from the TC+ team:

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Big Tech Inc.

Marc Benioff’s photo reminds us of the movie “Gladiator” where Russell Crowe’s character yells, “Are you not entertained?” Well, we hope you’re entertained by the latest in what we call “The Salesforce Saga.” Ron And Alex report that despite all the activist investors, executive departures, and layoffs, Salesforce is hitting back with better-than-expected revenue.

In the meantime, Kirsten, Rebekah And Harry listened in on Tesla Investor Day and shared with you everything Elon Musk and executives shared (and skipped).

Now here’s the short-short version of six others: