By Maxime Barbier
By the time you finish reading this, a few more minutes will have passed.The question is: What do you want to do with the time you have left?
The strength of a company name often lies in the concept it embodies, not in the name itself. We appreciate giants like Google, Spotify, Netflix, and Nike not for their names, but for the value they bring.Of course, choosing a thoughtful, legible, and relevant name for your business is an undeniable advantage.
All this to say that the name Timeleft has a far older history than you may realize, and that we decided to keep this name despite the successive evolutions of our product.Today, I invite you to discover the story behind "Timeleft" – a name that might seem melancholic to some, but which, in my opinion, is shaped by those who embrace it.
The Question That Changed My Life
Without any hint of sadness, I asked myself the day after my 30th birthday: how long do I have left to live? It's a valid question, but not one we often ask ourselves.
A pragmatic Google search told me that I had about around 600 months left based on statistics for my year and country of birth. How did I reach this sobering conclusion? Simple math.
If you belong to my generation and live in Europe, your average life expectancy is approximately 80 years for men and 83 years for women, with variations based on health factors.
I've been deeply impacted by this realization that my life is finite. Whether by fate or coincidence, this thought arose the year before my 31st birthday. After that, I began to seriously consider what I wanted to do with the time left in my life.
Finding What Matters
As I began to grapple with the ways I spent my days, I began giving myself more and more time to accomplish the small goals on my bucket list.
That's when I discovered the renowned blog "Wait But Why," famous for its unique approach to life. One article in particular, "Your Life in Weeks," captured my attention as it presented a quantifiable perspective on our time on earth.
I was so captivated by this concept that I created my own life calendar at home, marking each passing month with a small black sticker. This monthly ritual made me acutely aware of how quickly time passes and how finite our lives truly are.
The Beginning of My Second Life
There's a quote that says: "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 abruptly removed from my own company by my majority shareholder. This sudden and heartless split happened in a matter of days, from Tuesday to Friday of the same week, following ten years at its helm.
I won't delve into the emotional details of this separation, but the point being that I suddenly had nothing to do with my time after years of working 90-hour weeks. But the hardest part was losing my identity. Without my company, I no longer recognized myself as an entrepreneur.
Coffee with 100 Strangers
Everything changed during a lunch where someone suggested a challenge to me: meet and have coffee with 100 strangers. I accepted and completed this challenge in just a few months.
During these coffees, I learned that I wasn't the only one who felt disoriented. Due to the pressures of daily life, many of us appear to have lost the ability to dream. At that point, a fresh startup concept started to take shape in my mind, and on December 9, 2019, I sketched it out on paper for the first time.
After spending Christmas with my family, I flew to Australia two days later to realize my first dream: spending more than 30 days traveling alone. Thanks to COVID, those 30 days eventually stretched to 700!
Timeleft Launches from Bondi Beach
I experienced what I consider the happiest days of my life in April 2020, beneath the Australian sun, while the rest of the world was paralyzed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The dreams on my bucket list—a 10-day silent retreat, a 12-day cycling tour of New Zealand, and the opportunity to taste the best pancakes in the world—were coming true one by one.
However, seeing the impact of loneliness amplified by isolation, I realized it was time to bring to life my idea for a platform dedicated to "bucket lists." Helping people connect over shared aspirations!
When Adrien, my soon to be Co-Founder, asked me “do you have a name for the business”, I thought of the question that had always guided me: "What do you want to do with the time you have left to live?" The name Timeleft then became obvious to me, even if it wasn't immediately apparent to others...
A Tattoo to Measure Time
For a long time, "getting a tattoo" was on my bucket list, but I doubt I would have taken the plunge while staying in my Parisian routine. However, thousands of miles away, on Sayulita Beach in Mexico, everything was different.
That day, I decided to get my first (and probably last) tattoo on both of my forearms. This tattoo symbolizes the passage of time and the time I have left to live. Every year, I add a dot to the line, a practice that reminds me daily that life is short and that I am approaching the halfway point of my existence.
How Will You Spend the Time You Have Left?
While the concept for Timeleft evolved, realizing the need to connect people in a more accessible setting, the name and mission remain the same. To help people make the most of their time on this planet.
Loneliness is an epidemic in the age of digital connection and divided societies. Human connection is the true essence of life, and I want to help people access it now more than ever.
So I leave you with this simple, yet incredibly complex question that has guided everything I do: “what do you want to do with the time you have left to live?”
