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3 years, 6 months, and 18 days. When you’re called Timeleft, every moment counts. It’s been almost four years since we launched the first version of Timeleft, and what a journey it has been!
2019: 100 coffees with 100 strangers
In October 2019, Maxime Barbier leaves the company he co-founded and sold to the largest French television network. After ten years of hard work and relentless pursuit of productivity, he suddenly finds himself with an empty schedule.
It’s an invitation to lunch from a stranger that will change everything. The lunch turns out to be an enriching experience, inspiring Maxime with a bold idea: to have 100 coffees with 100 strangers.
Three months and 100 meetings later, the realization is clear: he is not the only one who has forgotten to dream and wonder what he really wants to do with the time he has left.
2020: The Story of a Dream List
Shortly before Christmas, a video catches Maxime’s attention. “The Buried Life” tells the adventure of four young men who set out to fulfill their dreams. What was planned for one summer turns into a multi-year adventure, with a show on MTV and a basketball game with Barack Obama. This is the turning point for Maxime.
He creates his list of 100 dreams to fulfill and buys a one-way ticket to Australia. He leaves on December 26th for a digital nomad life, just a few weeks before the start of the global lockdown.
While he enjoys the Australian sun, he witnesses the impact of the lockdown on his friends in France. Confined to their homes, many begin to question the meaning of their lives.
That’s when the original idea of Timeleft is born: a platform where people share their dreams. With the help of his former marketing director, Adrien de Oliveira, they launch a first MVP in April 2020. The success is immediate: 5000 dreams shared in one week. In September 2020, Maxime and Adrien formalize their partnership and create Timeleft.
Timeleft: What do you want to do with the time you got left?
2021: Change of Course
After several months of focus on the idea of a dream list platform, Maxime meets a potential investor who advises him to accelerate.
A pitch deck later, they raise 2 million dollars for a new idea: a dating app based on common dreams. Maxime also goes to the United States to pursue his own dream, the American dream.
However, he encounters unexpected realities. The expansion is too fast, too ambitious, too premature. Maxime returns to Europe and joins Adrien in Lisbon.
They start from scratch. Timeleft transforms into a dating platform centered around experiences in Lisbon. Despite promising prospects, the project encountered complications and was abandoned in April 2022.
2022: Dinners with Strangers
A fourth pivot brings Maxime back to the fundamentals. He defines clear constraints: a solid business model, simple technology, and group meetings to avoid a romantic date dynamic.
The first Timeleft dinner takes place on May 3rd in Lisbon with 24 participants. The concept quickly catches on, and the after-parties attract up to 500 people in the summer. Porto, Paris, and Marseille joined the movement in September.
Putting Humans at the Heart of the Experience
Timeleft, launched in 2020, has lived four different lives before finding its way. Our fundamental belief: the importance of human connection and reconnection.
Timeleft aims to combat loneliness, depression issues, and broken families. We offer an alternative to appearance-focused dating apps by creating a space where everyone has a place at the table regardless of their profile.
The future of Timeleft is promising: expanding to all European capitals and major cities.
When will we see Timeleft in your city?