“Let’s try this again...”

 Kalanick’s back. And this time, he’s the CEO of a company that specializes in redeveloping “distressed” real estate assets. [The Hustle]( Thur, Mar 22 Brought to you by [Salesforce Essentials]( customer love potion #9. Kalanick is back in biz: Ex-Uber CEO finds a new gig in City Storage Systems Well, that was quick… Not long after getting ousted from his post as CEO of Uber, polarizing corporate bad boy Travis Kalanick has a [new job]( as the CEO of real estate flipping startup City Storage Systems. Kalanick announced he has invested [$150m]( in City Storage through his brand new personal investment fund — an amount that will allow him to buy out most other outside investors as he takes the throne as CEO. Digital boy in a digital world City Storage [buys]( floundering real estate assets (like parking lots and strip malls) and turns them into spaces for business of the “digital era,” (like ecommerce companies). It’s the first big investment through Kalanick’s personal [investment fund]( 10100 (pronounced ten-one-hundred, FYI), which he announced just a few weeks ago. According to the T-Man, the firm will focus on his “passions, investments, ideas, and big bets,” with the theme of the fund centered around “large-scale job creation.” Staying close to the family Another large area of focus for City Storage will be food delivery (an industry near and dear to Kalanick’s heart). One of the company’s pre-existing assets is [CloudKitchens]( -- a company that provides infrastructure to food-delivery startups, and that just so happens to be a partner of UberEats; using its vehicle fleet to deliver meals from restaurants. It aaall comes full circle... Since T-Bone [stepped down]( from Uber last year, he’s maintained a large amount of influence in the ride-hailing giant’s day-to-day. Even as the company continues to weather the onslaught of controversies he created. And with this new investment, he appears to be keeping his friends close, and his frenemies closer. One more time, with feeling  Cloud wars are getting real: Salesforce buys  MuleSoft at a $6.5B valuation On Tuesday, Salesforce agreed to buy publicly traded cloud software company MuleSoft at $44.89 per share — a whopping [$6.5B]( valuation in total. That’s 16 times MuleSoft’s expected revenue in 2018, a price tag analysts are calling “lofty“ (‘Software as a service’ companies are typically valued at 10x their annual recurring revenue). What the frig is MuleSoft? MuleSoft sells software that helps companies share data across different systems, including those existing in “on-premises” data centers. The company is a great pairing for Salesforce, which will need access to data across the company to build out their [AI and machine learning layer]( Einstein. The acquisition (expected to close by the end of July) also gives Salesforce [access to big MuleSoft customers]( like Coca-Cola, VMware, GE, AT&T, and Cisco. Things just got a lot more complicated This is the most expensive cloud software deal in history, and it could [set the precedent]( for cloud software acquisitions moving forward. Some analysts speculate the exorbitant price is the result of a bidding war among Salesforce, Google, Microsoft, Oracle, and SAP — and if that’s the case, the competition’s only gonna get fiercer from here. Expensive for the cloud giants looking to gobble up complementary software, and great for the cloud companies on the menu. [MuleSoft’s on cloud 9](  NASA gives a 3D rocket-printing startup a test facility... for free Relativity Space, a 17-person [startup]( that makes rockets with 3D printers, will take over NASA’s 20-year lease of the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi... at no cost. According to a Bank of America Merrill Lynch [forecast]( published last year, the space industry could hit $2.7T in the next three decades -- and Relativity hopes to fill a growing demand for rockets that can be quickly produced at a lower price point. Private space partnerships have taken off Since the end of the space race, NASA -- which [receives]( only 0.5% of the federal budgetary pie today compared to 4.5% in 1966 -- has had to knock on the private sector’s door to borrow some rocket fuel. At first, only mega-contractors like Boeing or SpaceX had pockets deep enough to perform the expensive testing required to [win]( big NASA contracts. But as NASA continued to dole out multibillion-dollar contracts to private companies after dismantling their space shuttle program in 2011, investors began to smell an opportunity. Shoot for the moon, land among the VCs When the White House recently [announced]( a plan to send astronauts back to the moon with no expansion of NASA’s budget for R&D, private investors were more than happy to fill the void: They [pumped]( $3.9B into private space companies last year alone. Although they know the skies will be crowded with competitors, the founders of Relativity, who defected from SpaceX and Blue Origin, are confident that their rocket -- which is [built]( in 60 days for $10m and carries more than a ton of cargo -- won’t fail to launch. [Ground control to major profits](  Boats n’ woes: Cyberpirates are targeting the world’s biggest shipping boats The concept of shipping -- i.e., setting a massive container afloat on the open ocean for months at a time to reach a faraway land -- seems archaic. But these days, the [megaships transporting]( 18k 20’x8’ shipping containers apiece aren’t sailing on a hope and a prayer, they’ve got advanced nav systems to make sure they get where they’re going -- and a [new brand of pirate]( gunning for their booty. Hacks ahoy! Now, on top of stormy seas, piracy, isolation, and political tension, crews have hackers to deal with. Remember the massive malware outbreak “NotPetya” that held computers for ransom across the world last summer? Well, that little bug cost Danish shipping giant Maersk [as much as $300m]( as they reinstalled software of “tens of thousands of PCs and servers” on their ships. Companies focused on maritime cybersecurity have already started popping up to help companies protect the 10B tons of cargo shipped annually. What’s the worst that could happen? Aside from costing a $500B industry a few million doubloons, cyberpirates could also pull a Captain Phillips and commandeer the vessel, then ram it into another ship. They could also target [luxury “superyachts]( which are especially vulnerable to navigation hacking via Wi-Fi, and extort their wealthy passengers. And, if being stuck on a cruise ship with thousands of tourists doesn’t already sound like a nightmare, getting stuck on one that’s been hijacked definitely would be. [I am the hacker now](   things you should... LISTEN TO: Making the Brand podcast with Billy Draper, ~30 minutes Longtime friend of The Hustle, Billy D, recently launched a podcast interviewing successful founders, and we were immediately hooked. Why? Because it’s exactly what we do at our events and people love it. The latest episode features the founder of Allbirds who turned a Kickstarter campaign into a footwear company with $28m in funding. [GIVE IT A SHOT AND LEARN SOMETHING →]( EARN: cold, hard cash with The Hustle, $75/ticket The Hustle wants to give you money. Here’s the deal: spread the good word of Hustle Con, and for each person who buys a ticket using your unique link, you’ll get $75. It’s that easy. Tell your friends, get paid. Consider it your next side gig. Plus, score extra prizes (like a free ticket for yourself). [LEMME SEE THEM DEETS →]( SWITCH ON: Otter app and keep those office convos straight, Free Do you constantly forget what your coworkers say during meetings? Do you really like to hear yourself talk? Otter’s new transcription records and transcribes everything from meetings to monologues using AI. [THE TAPES TELL ALL →]( FEAST: your eyes upon project management with monday.com, FREE trial The tools that are supposed to keep you organized shouldn’t waste your time. If you’re the kind of person who likes visualizing your project in a way that actually makes sense, try monday.com. If you’re not that kind of person, well, move along. [ORGANIZATION FOR SORE EYES →]( PITCH: your passion at WeWork’s Creator Awards in SF, FREE entry Calling all entrepreneurs, creators, artists and anyone who embodies the WeWork credo: “Create Your Life’s Work.” WeWork’s Creator Awards is accepting applicants. Pitch your project to industry leaders and fellow creators to win up to $360k in funding. Applications close April 10th (open to anyone in the Western US and Canada). [PREP THE ACCEPTANCE SPEECH →]( This edition of The Hustle was brought to you by Salesforce: your Cupid for customer love As a small business owner, you wear a lot of hats: CEO, COO, marketing manager, and (of course) customer service agent. When you’re balancing so many things, it’s easy to let your customer service go cold — flying solo is for the birds, not your business. Don’t let your mounting pile of to-dos keep you and your team from securing your customers’ love. Let [Salesforce Service Cloud Essentials]( be your Cupid. The only thing better than roses + a box of chocolates Customer service powered by Salesforce isn’t just for the corporate fat cats — you can have it for [only $25/month]( Salesforce took their most powerful enterprise customer service tools and stripped away the corporate fluff, creating a platform built specifically for small businesses. Service Cloud Essentials gives your scrappy team of agents enterprise-grade customer service tools for less than a gym membership. Plus, Service Cloud Essentials is easy to set up, easy to use, and it grows with your company -- [integrating with existing Salesforce services]( and dozens of third-party apps you’re already using. Even better? You get a [FREE trial](. Give it a try and turn those complaints into compliments with Service Cloud Essentials.  0 [SHARE THE HUSTLE]( REFERRALS [ YOUR UNIQUE URL Zack Crockett NEWS WRITER Wes Schlagenhauf NEWS WRITER Kolby Hatch AD WRITER [Lindsey “Boat-curious” Quinn]( MANAGING EDITOR Budd Tuggli PERSONAL MAKEUP ARTIST [SUBSCRIBE]( [JOBS]( [ADVERTISE]( [EVENTS]( [SHOP]( [Join our Facebook community →]( You opted in by signing up, attending an event, or through divine intervention. [771 CLEMENTINA STREET, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103, UNITED STATES]( • [415.506.7210](tel:+1-415-506-7210) Never wanna hear from us again? 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