We were lucky to catch up with Maxime Barbier recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Maxime, so happy to have you with us today and there is so much we want to ask you about. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others developed certain skills or qualities that we are struggling with can be helpful. Along those lines, we’d love to hear from you about how you developed your ability to take risk?
By taking risks. Life is a game with a known end. And nobody said it would be easy or fair. So taking risks is essential, and every day that goes by, tell yourself that your success rate for staying alive is 100%.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
The strength of a company name often lies in the concept it embodies, not in the name itself. Giants like Google, Spotify, Netflix, or Nike are dear to us not for their names, but for the value they bring. Of course, choosing a name that’s thoughtful, readable and relevant to your business is an undeniable advantage.
Let me tell you a story.
The origin of the name Timeleft. It’s a story that goes back much further than you might think, and that we’ve decided to keep this name, despite the successive evolutions of the product. A name that may seem sombre to some, but which, in my opinion, is shaped by those who wear it.
The day after my 30th birthday, without a trace of melancholy, a question crossed my mind: how long do I have to live? A legitimate question, but rarely formulated.
A pragmatic and somewhat brutal Google search informs me that, according to the statistics linked to my year and country of birth, I have around 600 months to live. How does one arrive at this gloomy conclusion? Simple.
If you belong to my generation and live in Europe, your average life expectancy is around 80 years for men and 83 years for women, with variations depending on health factors.
This realization that my life is limited has had a profound effect on me. Coincidence or destiny, it happened during the year my company was sold to France’s biggest TV channel, just before my 31st birthday. I then began to think about what I wanted to do with the “time I have left”.
In the midst of my company’s earn-out, my partner and I have only one goal: to finish things well. We work a lot, but I’m starting to give myself more and more time to complete the little challenges on my bucket list, written after the slap in the face.
That’s when I came across the renowned “Waitbutwhy” blog, famous for its unique approach to life, and world-famous since its 54-million-view author’s TEDx. One article in particular, entitled “Your Life in Weeks”, captured my attention by offering a quantified perspective on existence.
I was so fascinated by the idea that I created my own chart at home, marking each past month with a little black sticker. This monthly ritual made me realize how quickly time flies, and how the end of our lives is not so far away.
There’s a quote that goes, “Your second life begins when you realize you only have one.” This phrase took on its full meaning for me on October 15, 2019, the day I was ousted from my own company by my majority shareholder. After a decade at its helm, this sudden and emotionless parting happened in just a few days, from Tuesday to Friday of the same week.
I won’t elaborate on the painful details of this separation, but if you’re in the process of selling your company or in an earn-out phase, I invite you to read an article I published on Medium (read the article) where I share my learnings from this experience.
The next two months were a roller-coaster ride of legal battles and intense emotions. I found myself without a business, having been an entrepreneur since the age of 18. Suddenly, I had nothing to do, after years of working 90 hours a week. But the hardest part was losing my identity. Without my company, I no longer recognized myself as an entrepreneur.
That all changed over lunch, when an idea was suggested to me: meet and have coffee with 100 strangers. It was a challenge I accepted and accomplished in just a few months.
Over the course of these cafés, I discovered that I wasn’t the only one who felt lost. Many of us seem to have forgotten how to dream, suffocated by everyday life. That’s when a new startup idea began to germinate in my mind, taking shape in a first mockup on paper on December 9, 2019 (left).
The end of 2019 approaches. On Christmas Eve, an agreement was reached with TF1, putting an end to our conflict and closing this great and intense chapter of my life. I spent Christmas with my family, then the day after, I flew to Australia, to try to realize my first dream: to travel alone for more than 30 days.
(Note: Those 30 days eventually turned into 700 days, thanks Covid!)
In April 2020, while the whole world was paralyzed by the Covid-19 pandemic, I was under the Australian sun, experiencing what I consider to be the best moments of my life. One by one, I was fulfilling the dreams on my bucket list: a 10-day silent retreat, a 12-day bike tour of New Zealand, and eating the world’s best pancakes.
As I was probably in one of the best places to experience the beginning of this pandemic (I was lucky enough not to have to confine myself for the whole period), I nevertheless felt a growing tension on social networks. Some people criticized me for living my life to the full while the rest of the world was on hiatus. These reactions prompted me to think and act.
Seeing what was happening on the networks, I realized it was time to put my idea of a platform dedicated to “bucket-lists” into practice. So I contacted the only person I’d ever openly said to, “If I come up with a project, you’ll be the first to know”, and asked him to help me create the MVP for what was to become Timeleft.com. Adrien’s first question was simple but existential: “Okay, but do you have a name for this concept?”
From publicizing my bucket list, and coaching sessions to help hundreds of people reconnect with their true aspirations, a provocative but effective question had always guided me: “What do you want to do with the time you have left to live?”
The name Timeleft was then obvious to me, even if it was less obvious to others…
Getting a tattoo had been on my bucket list for a long time, but I doubt I’d have taken the plunge if I’d stuck to my Parisian routine. However, thousands of miles away, on Sayulita beach in Mexico, the story was different.
That day, I decided to get my first (and probably last) tattoo on both forearms. This tattoo symbolizes the passing of time and the time I have left to live. Every year, I add a dot to double the line, a practice that reminds me daily that life is short and that I’m approaching the halfway point of my existence.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
1/ Don’t look too far ahead or too far behind. Watch where you put your feet, and take one step at a time. 2/ Eat well, move well, sleep well. Master the foundation of life’s pyramid before attempting to conquer the world.
3/ Run away from what you don’t like instead of looking for what you do like. You’ll find your way more easily
If you knew you only had a decade of life left, how would you spend that decade?
Timeleft is moving at breakneck speed, and speed means control. So I have to keep the steering under control to avoid going off course.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://timeleft.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/timeleft/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/maximebarbierlive
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maximebarbier/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/maximebarbier
