Salesforce's Marc Benioff says tech CEOs everywhere might soon unleash their inner Elons

Hi, I'm Matt Turner, the editor in chief of business at Insider. Welcome back to Insider Today's Sunday Edition, a roundup of some of our top stories. Sign up here to get this briefing in your inbox each week.

On the agenda today:

• Elon Musk let other car companies catch up to Tesla.
• How Boomers' greed destroyed the economy.
• Salesforce's Marc Benioff on unleashing his inner Elon.
• Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon is in the hot seat.

But first: Insider's Rebecca Knight is a Gen X working mom who tried TikTok's "Bare Minimum Monday" trend. Read on to find out how it went. 

Gen X tries 'Bare Minimum Mondays'

When I first heard about "Bare Minimum Monday," the latest TikTok trend to emerge in the workplace, I thought it was nonsense, Insider's Rebecca Knight writes.

Marisa Jo Mayes, the millennial startup founder who sparked the viral sensation, promotes it as a way to prioritize self-care. Her TikToks offer glimpses of how she occupies her time instead: curling her hair, making elaborate iced coffees, and playing a variation of mini Boggle.

It all seemed precious and entitled — not to mention wildly impractical. Mind you, I'm not exactly in Marisa Jo's target audience.

As a Gen Xer and working mom, I'm conditioned to neurotically squeeze out productivity from every hour. Allotting just the right amount of time to each meeting and task, while leaving room for the afternoon carpool, dinner prep, and homework help is my own "self-care priority."

But when my editor suggested I give Bare Minimum Monday a try and then write about it, I leapt at the opportunity. I soon found out that taking it easy at work is harder than it looks.

Here's how it went.

Tesla is just another boring car company

Tesla spent the past two decades defying expectations and disrupting the automotive industry. But these days, the once revolutionary car company has started to look much more like the automakers it used to rattle — with aging tech, stale car designs, and an outdated business model. 

Tesla has only ever existed without real competition and in a favorable economic environment. Now the electric-vehicle market is anyone's game, and Tesla is about to find out how hard it can be to go to war with some of the world's most recognizable brands. 

Why Tesla's "Cinderella ride" may be over.

Read more:

• Experts ranked the leading self-driving companies. Tesla didn't even crack the top 10.
• Elon Musk's new Master Plan for Tesla should've introduced cheap EVs. Instead, we got a whole lot of nothing.

Blame Boomers

The story of our inflation headache is one of scarcity: not enough people, homes, or ships. But while arguments about the post-COVID price chaos focused on pandemic-created triggers, inflation is also a story of larger tectonic shifts within the population. 

Boomers, who were the largest generation in global history, are entering their twilight years. And as they ride off into the sunset, they're leaving behind an economy that isn't built to accommodate the demands of the 21st century — and future generations are going to pay the price.

More on the Great Boomer Bottleneck.

A "New Day" at Salesforce

Tech CEOs have been secretly studying Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter as he slashes costs, closes offices, and chops headcount. Salesforce's Marc Benioff revealed he's considering Musk's approach, too, as he attempts to pivot Salesforce towards profitability as part of his "New Day" strategy.

"Every CEO in Silicon Valley has looked at what Elon Musk has done and has asked themselves, 'Do they need to unleash their own Elon within them?'" Benioff told Insider in an interview. 

Read our interview with Marc Benioff.

Read more:

• Leaked document lays out Salesforce's plan to hit over 30% margins, directing the company to 'run lean and mean' and stop 'using culture as an excuse'
• A leaked draft of Salesforce's business plan focuses on Slack, Tableau, MuleSoft — and admits it's been too slow to integrate acquisitions into its main products
  

David Solomon in the hot seat

All eyes were on Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon as the storied investment bank held its second-ever "Investor Day". Solomon's task was clear: convince investors that the bank is on the right track after losing billions during its push into consumer banking.

But investors and shareholders were left with more questions than answers, and Goldman's stock tumbled. Solomon got visibly frustrated when asked to elaborate on plans for its consumer banking business.

Key takeaways from Goldman's investor day.

Read more:

• Since David Solomon became Goldman Sachs CEO, more than 80 partners have left. See the running list here.

This week's quote:

"There's your roommate, noise in the hallways, machinery moving about, emergency calls, and crew announcements that blast over the speakers into your room." 

• Chris Libreros, who worked on a major US cruise line for eight months — and did not enjoy the experience.

More of this week's top reads:

• MediaMath seemed destined for a fairy-tale exit, but most early investors got nothing.
• Six ways companies are "quiet firing" white-collar workers.
• Meet Gen Zalpha, the powerful generation that's about to have major spending power.
• Why your rent is about to fall.
• Inside the unraveling of Vise, a $1 billion fintech darling.
• Facebook is set to look closer to that of Instagram after a new mandate.
• Four charts that explain the state of the housing market right now.
• Big media is gearing up for battle with Google and Microsoft over AI chatbots.

Curated by Matt Turner. Edited by Dave Smith and Lisa Ryan. Sign up for more Insider newsletters here.