Maxime Barbier’s journey is anything but typical. A serial entrepreneur from Paris, Maxime built his first business at just 22, later selling it to national television in France. But what came after was even more transformative. Faced with the question of “what's next?” after a successful exit, he took 100 coffees with 100 strangers – an experiment that reshaped his view of purpose, connection, and what people truly crave. This quest ultimately led to Timeleft, a social dining platform that has already brought half a million people together across 300 cities worldwide. In this episode of the Curious Customer podcast, Maxime shares the emotional, surprising, and sometimes messy path that led him to turn simple dinners into powerful social experiences.

“We are like a dating app who sell you love, but only give you first date.” — Maxime Barbier

In this episode, you will:

• Learn how a list of 100 personal dreams and 100 coffees with strangers sparked the birth of a global platform.
• Discover why Maxime believes loneliness isn’t the real problem – it’s a lack of meaningful, in-person connections.
• Understand how Timeleft’s unique group matching algorithm uses age, personality type, and even conversation dynamics to build strong social tables.
• Find out why Timeleft's users – whether in Tokyo, London, or São Paulo – keep returning not for love, but for authentic friendship and emotional connection.
• Hear how Maxime’s own father, facing post-accident isolation, found healing and friendship through the very platform his son created.

Tune in to hear how Maxime and the Timeleft team are proving that sharing a meal with strangers might just be one of the most meaningful things you do this week.

Connect with Maxime:

• LinkedIn

Connect with Matt:

• LinkedIn
• Curious Customer Website