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- [00:01]
Kat
Guys, thanks for helping me carry my Christmas tree.
- [00:03]
Maxime Barbeer
Zoe, this thing weighs a ton. Drew Ski, lift with your legs, man.
- [00:06]
Kat
Santa. Santa, did you get my letter?
- [00:08]
Maxime Barbeer
He's talking to you britches. I'm not.
- [00:10]
Kat
Of course he did.
- [00:12]
Maxime Barbeer
Right, Santa, you know my elf Drew Ski here. He handles the nice list. And elf, I'm six' three. What everyone wants is iPhone 17 and at T Mobile you can get it on them. That center stage front camera is amazing for group selfies, right, Mrs. Claus?
- [00:26]
Kat
I'm Mrs. Claus much younger sister. And AT T Mobile there's no trade in needed when you switch. So you can keep your old phone.
- [00:32]
Maxime Barbeer
Or give it as a gift.
- [00:33]
Kat
And the best part, you can make the switch to T mobile from your phone in just 15 minutes.
- [00:37]
Maxime Barbeer
Nice. My side of the tree is slipping. Kimber, the holidays are better. AT T Mobile switch in just 15 minutes and get iPhone 17 on us with no trade in needed. And now T Mobile is available in US cellular stores with 24 monthly bill credits for well qualified customers plus tax and $35 device connection charge credits and imbalance due if you pay off earlier accounts. Financing agreement 256 gigs, $830 eligible board in a new line, $100 plus a month plan without our PayPal taxes and fees required. Check out 15 minutes or less per line.
- [01:00]
Kat
Visit t mobile.com My guest today, Maxime Barbeer is the founder and CEO of a really cool app and social experiment called Time Left. Time Left brings together total strangers every Wednesdays in cities all over the world for dinner. He got inspired by the belief that yes, our life is fleeting and we all need more human connections and genuine relationships. I tried it for myself. I went to three dinners organized by Time Left and I have to tell you guys, it's a really fantastic idea. It has nothing to do with dating. It's literally so you can socialize, connect, meet new people, network, interactive. It's really really cool. And it's completely free to download the app. And the few page to attend the dinners is super super affordable. So I hope you guys enjoy my really cool conversation with the amazing Max. And the link is on this episode if you want to know more and download your free app and canon the lose is gratefully sponsored by a local wonderful Los Angeles business, Gold Standard Builders, a design and construction company licensed general contractors. A passionate team delivering great service, quality and fair pricing. They pay great attention to every detail. The owner, Adam Kornfeld is so hands on with his projects. That's why their clients keep going back for more. So if you guys are thinking about remodeling your homes, a bathroom, a bedroom, maybe getting your backyards ready for summer. If you're interested in doing any projects in the great LA area, these are the guys that you definitely should go to. Super reliable, super nice. Give them a call for free estimates. 1-800-469-9189. Take a look at their website for amazing photos of their projects. Www.goldstandardbuilders.com Maxime welcome to Cat on the Loose. It's such an honor to have you.
- [03:11]
Maxime Barbeer
That's my pleasure. Thank you for having me.
- [03:13]
Kat
And I know you're in New York City. Are you having fun out there?
- [03:17]
Maxime Barbeer
Yeah. The weather is not the best, but yeah. How enjoying New York in this island.
- [03:21]
Kat
You should be in LA because the weather is perfect here. Okay, so let's talk about time left because as I was saying to you before we got started, I found out about it through Instagram a few months ago and I was like, this idea sounds amazing. I'm gonna try it out. So full disclosure, you guys were not paying me. You didn't ask me to do it. I decided to go and try it out for myself because, you know, I live in la, I work insanely crazy hours. It is very difficult to meet people for like personal relationships. And I love the idea that it has nothing to do with dating. And I tried it out and I loved it. So the first question I have for you is explain in a nutshell to people that never heard about time left what it is.
- [04:06]
Maxime Barbeer
Time left is a really easy and simple way to meet people wherever you are. So now we are in 185 City and it's happening every Wednesday. You go on timelab.com you do a personality test and when you're ready you just book your seat. And the only thing you have to do is to show up to a restaurant. You're going to receive an address on Wednesday morning. You don't know anything about the participant. You don't know anything about anything. You just know it's going to happen there. And you go in the restaurant on the time and five people are going to sit next to you to have an amazing time. Right?
- [04:35]
Kat
Okay, I did that. So let's dissect fact that because I know even my friends are asking me, but what do you mean you don't know where you're gonna go? You don't know who you're gonna go have dinner with? Basically time left is a nap, right? And you connect. So let's say I'm in la, I'm in Los Angeles. Maybe somebody who is visiting Los Angeles, maybe somebody who is lonely. Right. In Los Angeles has nothing to do with dating. They go on the app. And you said the first step is we have to answer like a personality questionnaire.
- [05:08]
Maxime Barbeer
Yes. To know a bit more about you.
- [05:10]
Kat
Okay. I don't even remember that I did that.
- [05:13]
Maxime Barbeer
It's like 45 question. Are you like a morning person or are you like a night person? Do you like to talk about politics? Do you like veggie food, vegan food? All this kind of simple question. And it's super fun.
- [05:24]
Kat
Okay. Yeah, it's super fun. So basically to know your preferences so you try to match people that have similar. Similar interests. Correct?
- [05:32]
Maxime Barbeer
Yes. Because you have an algorithm who do the matching for us. And so the, the basic was to give a bit of information to make sure the algorithm can play his role. When we started one years ago, we just asked like what can be the basic question or really simple and fun personality test we can have. And so that's kind of what we do. And that's the only thing you have to do. And there's no swiping, no profile, no dm.
- [05:53]
Kat
Right. Yeah. We want to make it clear this is not about dating. And this is why it really intrigued me because I'm single. A lot of people that listen to Cat on the Loose are single, but it can be exhausting. And sometimes you want to go out not to meet a date. You want to go out to meet friends, to network. And this was your idea behind time left, correct? When you created it?
- [06:15]
Maxime Barbeer
Yes. When we created this idea 1 years ago in May last year, we wanted to actually be the opposite of dating app. I just, I think you're tired that you're not the only one. A lot of people are existed by dating app because you know, you spend a lot of time, lot of expectation, you like, you talk for hours, then you meet and it didn't click and you, you know, you spend, you go from decention to. And then when I was struggling and I don't know your age, but I'm going to be 40 and when you are 40, then I'm a teeny bit older than you.
- [06:45]
Kat
Just a little.
- [06:46]
Maxime Barbeer
Just a little. And so it's a bit hard to meet new people when you start to get old. And so when I was traveling, I just realized that, wow, the only option we have is D. But if you're single, okay, makes sense. But if you're not, then you know, you can't go on this App. And actually even if you're single using dating app to make friendship, I think it's not a good strategy. And so we just wanted to create support something simple. And actually the success of Time Left, I believe now after, you know, 18 months is really rely on the fact we don't ask what people want and you have to just be open to what's going to happen. Of course we have a lot of single people doing to Time Left but because we don't ask people what they want, they are more open and you know, there was less pressure in a sense.
- [07:26]
Kat
Yeah, no, I completely agree and I love that. So let's do step by step by step so people understand. So you go on the app, it's free, right? If you download it for free, it's called Time Left. Then you answer this really fun questionnaire about your personal opinions, what you like to eat, blah blah, blah. Then you said it's one dinner every Wednesday night. Is there a specific reason why it's on Wednesdays?
- [07:52]
Maxime Barbeer
Yes, it's only Wednesdays and for two reasons. The first one is like because the time life experience is in the restaurant and we know restaurant can be busy on Friday and Saturday. So we decided to choose a day who are like more easy for us to be able to have some table. Because to give you an idea, in today to more than two days, in two days we're going to be 15,000 strangers having dinners together. So we need a lot of restaurants so we wanted to make sure we can have them. And then the second thing is he's also a day who. I just discovered that in the U.S. you said the day is like it's not too soon during the week and it's not too late also. So of course Friday looks like on paper like a better option, but it's not because you have so much for us to do on Friday. And so that's why we came with the Friday. And now we are sticking to this. We want to own the Friday. We want to have people understand like wherever you go, you know, on Wednesday you can meet people in one click.
- [08:41]
Kat
Yeah. And you know, I say my opinion. When I saw that it's Wednesday, I loved it. Because like you said, if it's Friday, on Saturday most people have plans, right? You have dates or if you're married, you're gonna go out with your husband and your wife. If you have a family, it's family oriented stuff. It's a lot harder. Monday and Tuesday, at least for me, are insanely hectic. Like if it was Monday night, I probably would never do it because I work until late hours like most people. So when I saw that it was Wednesday, the first time that I went, I was like, that's perfect. It's usually a very chill night. It's the middle of the week, so I think you guys really nailed that. So now we go on the app, it's Wednesday night, and you confirm the dinner. So you pay a fee, which is very affordable, by the way. Right. And then your name is confirmed. Now, you guys don't tell us where we're gonna go or any details of the dinner until the day off. So let's say today's Monday and I confirm, oh yeah, I want to go on next Wednesday dinner. But I don't know who I'm gonna have dinner with and I don't even know which restaurant, although it's within our.
- [09:57]
Maxime Barbeer
Yeah, you can define in which part of la.
- [10:00]
Kat
Yeah, exactly, by the way, because I. I don't want people to think they gotta drive like crazy distances.
- [10:05]
Maxime Barbeer
So.
- [10:06]
Kat
But why don't you let us know ahead of time where we're gonna go?
- [10:10]
Maxime Barbeer
So it's. Everyone's there, you can book for. This one's there. You can also book for in two weeks or in three weeks. You, of course, in big city, can change, can choose where you're gonna have dinner. We don't want you, as you said, to travel for two hours to get a dinner. And then the thing is, we just realized the less information you give to people, the more they are likely to attend, actually.
- [10:33]
Kat
And why do you think that is?
- [10:37]
Maxime Barbeer
We gave more, way more information at the beginning one years ago, and we just realized it makes no sense because if you give too much information about, you know, how many women, how many men, like, what they do for a living and all this kind of thing, people start to, you know, to judge beforehand. And so, yeah, that's not the point. Like, we, like the beauty of the term life is like, we really don't know what's going to happen. And, and you've been there and I've been there many times. I did 60 dinners myself. It's like on the first 10 minutes, you're like, what am I doing there? Like, oh my God, I don't feel this person. Oh my God, it's going to be so boring. And suddenly something happened because the magic of it, because you're sitting with someone, you share a meal, you share a drink, and then, so, yeah, we just, we just reduce the information to the minimum. So on, you have till Monday night. To book your seat for the week. Then on Tuesday, we give you some basic information, like what language you're going to speak at the. At the dinner, like, what's the zodiac sign of the table? So comes you read just simple stuff. And then on the Wednesday morning at 9am you have to address at the restaurant.
- [11:37]
Kat
Yeah, true. So I have to say, the first time I went, I, like, I told you, I. I had not even reached out to you guys. I'm like, I'm gonna try for myself, you know, I'm always trying to find interesting things for the podcast. And for a lot of people it's intimidating, right? To go, oh, my God, I'm gonna go to a restaurant with a group of strangers. That's weird. I'm very outgoing, but I know a lot of people are not. But I have to say, when I got there, and by the way, it was a restaurant that I love. It was very close to me. So you guys are picking amazing restaurants, at least here in la. But when I got there, there were already three people on the table, and I was the fourth one. And they were so nice and so friendly. And I asked them this question. I was like, were you guys intimidated about coming here? And they all said the same thing to me. The first time we were intimidating. But the minute you get to the table, everybody's on the same boat. Everybody's there because they want to meet someone new, they want to socialize. And that made me feel like maybe that if somebody's listening and they're like, afraid of trying it out. Yeah, maybe that minimizes the stress. If you think that everybody's there is kind of, you know, like I said, on the same boat trying out the same thing.
- [12:50]
Maxime Barbeer
Yeah. Like, everyone is stressed 100%, and it's a good stress. You know, like on Time Left, our baseline is like strangers. Because what we want to help people to understand is now we live in the world where we are afraid to say hi to each other. We are afraid to talk to each other.
- [13:06]
Kat
Yeah.
- [13:06]
Maxime Barbeer
When I go to the co working space, no one say hi. It's kind of strange, you know, and. And so what Timeless does is like when you sit and you just say, hello, hey, hi, my name is Kate. That's it. And all the pressures went down and you can see they are human. And that's. I think that's the beauty of it. We just want to create simple human connection.
- [13:24]
Kat
Exactly. I agree. And I think it's interesting because social media. So my. So my first dinner, we were four people because two People didn't show up. Which by the way, I think it's kind of rude. Like if you make a, a commitment and you confirm and on Wednesday you guys ask again, actually you send an email and everything and you're like, are you showing up? Like, I personally think, you know, just go for it because there's a group of people waiting for you there.
- [13:51]
Maxime Barbeer
Yeah, but that's a good point. So now we try to also make people understand you're not going to a festival. So if you go to the festival and you don't go out and if you don't go to the festival, the festival will be the same for everyone. Is like you going to the cinema, the theater, but this experience, you're part of the experience. So if you don't show up, it's going to not going to be the same experience for people. Yeah, that's why we want to be able to understand like if you take a ticket, you are the experience, you're going to be part of it. So you have to show up because six, if you're like five, that's okay. Four, that's okay. But sometimes if you are three, that's. So we really try to fight the no show.
- [14:27]
Kat
Yeah, no, I agree and I, and I'm saying if there is any no shows out there, listening to me or if you guys want to try to do this like I did to myself, make a commitment to yourself and push yourself. Because I know the first time can be like, oh my God, this is weird. But I promise you, if you go through it and you go, you're gonna have a great time because it's always really interesting people, people with good intentions, a lot of people. And I want to talk about the cultural differences in a second, but a lot of people that, that do this kind of stuff, they travel the world, they're very open minded when it comes to meeting new people. And I think that's what makes this, this time left experience amazing.
- [15:09]
Maxime Barbeer
Yeah. And also for now we are like in 40 countries and 185 cities. And we can quickly also know it's not only about people who travel. We have a lot of local people in the us we have a lot of people from the US they are not only like, is not an expat, digital nomad kind of thing. Like in French we have 80% French people. In Brazil we have like 95% Brazilian people. So even if you don't travel that much, you can just. Actually I just want to comment, like time life is for everyone. It's clear like we have people from 20s. My dad now go to Time Left dinner every Wednesday. He's 72, so he fights loneliness with Time Left. I'm happy. That's my dream. But yeah, it's for, it's literally for everyone for sure.
- [15:49]
Kat
Yeah. And the second time I went, it was another restaurant that I love right here in West Hollywood called Tess. And my table was full. Everybody showed up and it was such a fun group, it was such a good mix. And like you said, everybody was from la. It wasn't really people that were traveling, but I think it includes. Right. Some people travel alone and they don't want to dine alone, especially women. Like when women travel alone, they don't feel comfortable sitting in a restaurant. So it could be for that person. A lot of people are business people that leave the office really late at night and they're like, man, I don't want to go home and be alone. I'm going to go to this dinner and have a good time. A lot of women, by the way, who are single, just going through a divorce or are not ready to date yet. And I think that's such a welcoming environment for women who want to meet new people and not be alone. So it's like a really, really cool mixture from all walks of life.
- [16:54]
Maxime Barbeer
Yes. And you, you have really good guests. We are not here. We have all the kind of, oh.
- [17:00]
Kat
My God, we're having an earthquake. Holy. Wait, hold on one second.
- [17:05]
Maxime Barbeer
Cover.
- [17:05]
Kat
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- [20:30]
Maxime Barbeer
Em.
- [20:30]
Kat
It's blowing up. Definitely one of the hottest places in Las Vegas right now. But your name needs to be on the list in order for you to gain access. So make sure you send me a message through Instagram at Real Cat on the loose or text me or Send me a WhatsApp at 1-310-692-0578 and I will put your name on the list. They also offer incredibly special comps that are available only to my guests. They will reimburse Aria hotel fees for up to $350. In case you decide to stay at the Aria Hotel. They will give you private transportation from the airport to your hotel and to the game. And they Will give you access to airfare deals for business and first class. I mean, they will totally roll out the red carpet for you. And you're going to have so much. So much fun. Table 1 is the place to play poker in Las Vegas. Why do you think it's called table one? Because it's the number one game in town, baby. Wow. Guys, I'm, like, in the middle of my interview with Max, and I just felt a really strong earthquake here in la. So I took a break and I'm trying to regroup myself. But, Max, you're helping me. We were talking about, like, single, newly divorced women that. That it's a just a great, safe place for that.
- [21:51]
Maxime Barbeer
It is. That's why we have mostly women attending time left. By the way, if. If guys listen to this podcast.
- [21:58]
Kat
Yes. I'm going to try to convince my guy friend, because it is true. The first time I went, it was three girls and a boy. The second time it was four girls and two boys. And the third time, I have to tell you, it was this big, big, fabulous rooftop dinner that you guys organized here in West Hollywood, like, two weekends ago. It was, like, I think for 80 people, 85 people. So it was a bunch of tables and my table, and I don't know why, but my. I don't know if your algorithm did that, because my table was the only table that had one guy and seven women. So he was really cool about it, but he kind of felt uncomfortable, you know, because he was like, look at all the other tables. There is such a good mixture of guys, and I'm the only guy at this table. And we were trying to make him comfortable, but, you know, it was kind of funny that it happened.
- [22:54]
Maxime Barbeer
No, no, for sure. Like, it's the goal. Like, the goal we try to do is to have a good balance of gender. And of course, you know, seven women, one guy, or even the opposite one woman, seven guy is not comfortable for, you know, but yeah, we have mostly women, and especially if we go up in the age. So, like, the participant from 30. 20 to 30 is, like kind of 50. 50, but, like, above 50 and 60 years old is mostly women. 70 to 72%.
- [23:23]
Kat
Wow. Okay, so guys out there, if you're listening, come on over, try it out. It's so much fun. And like, we're saying from the beginning, it has nothing to do with dating. It's not like you're not expected to go there and flirt with someone, or if it happens, it happens. Right? But like you were saying to me, you met your Business partner on time left. Yes. And it can be businessman. You can be an older guy like your dad, somebody retired at home who is, maybe you're bored, whatever the hell is going on. Or like I was saying. Yeah, this guy that was in my group, he said he lives in downtown and he works in West Hollywood and he finishes work really late at night. So instead of like hitting traffic, he goes to the time left dinner and, and by the time it's done, there's no traffic for him to go home. So there's all kinds of great reasons. Yeah.
- [24:12]
Maxime Barbeer
And, and also we, we match people by kind of age groups. So the algorithm tried to put course with 7 years different maximum between the youngest and the oldest at the table. So don't be afraid if you are like 70, you're not gonna be with all of people from 20. And if you're 20, you're not going to be with people for 70. So, you know.
- [24:31]
Kat
Yeah. So what is the age bracket? Like?
- [24:33]
Maxime Barbeer
It's, we have most of the people are like between 30 to 45 and then we see an increase of people from 50 to 60. 60. And the algorithm try to, to, to put people within a certain bracket. So basically 10 years of difference, maximum.
- [24:49]
Kat
Yeah.
- [24:49]
Maxime Barbeer
Between the youngest and the oldest.
- [24:51]
Kat
I think that's fair. Yeah, I think that's good. 10 year difference. Because you want to have something in common, right? You want to have common interest. You want to talk about. Now let me ask about the cultural part because I think, and tell me if I'm wrong. You know, I'm half Brazilian, have French. Like I was saying to you, you're French. I think the Latin cultures and even Europeans, we are very open minded when it comes to meeting new people sitting at the same table. A lot of countries in Europe, you go to a restaurant and there is the, the common table for strangers to sit together. I don't think Americans are as much. I think Americans are more like uptight, they're shy or socially. And a lot of the Americans that I talk to, including the Americans that I met on my time life dinners, they agree with. Do you see the diff, the cultural differences when you start opening up new cities and new countries?
- [25:47]
Maxime Barbeer
The funny story I tell often is like when we started in Portugal, people say, oh Portugal, Portuguese people are so close, it's not going to work. And it was a success. Then we went to France and my friends are French people. We don't need that. We are like, we don't talk to strangers. And it was a huge success. And we go To Brazil. And Brazil, they are so open to talk and so friendly. They don't need this. And it's the fastest growth we have. And Brazil is country number two. And the US is the biggest surprise. US is our biggest market. New York is our biggest city. The US people, they love it. So I think it's just not about like what did you just say? I think it's just we need human connection. We live in the society or we are so disconnected from each other. And I think no matter who you are, you need to talk to people at one point. You need to be open to just have a share food with someone. You know, I met some people along the way and they say I wake up, you know, I work permanently from home. I just walk all day and I go to bed, repeat every day, you know, for five days per week. And I'm like, wow. I just, I just in the loop. So in one click you can have a dinner with people and you know, it's great.
- [26:53]
Kat
No, it's so true. I think especially after Covid, right? We were stuck at home during COVID a lot of us gave up our offices. We started working from home. A lot of us work crazy hours. And I gave you myself as an example. I have a few friends, tight, a small circle of close friends. But 99% of the time when I go out, it's business related events. It's like with my clients, it's networking. And the rest of the time I'm like literally just home. And I don't feel like going on dates all the time because like we were saying, it's exhausting. Sometimes I just want to chill and have a nice dinner and I love talking to new people. I want to make new friends. And that's the, the aspect of it that I, that I really, really liked. But I know for a lot of people taking that first step is really tough. Like they're shy, they're embarrassed. What. So what would you say to them to encourage them to give this a shot?
- [27:54]
Maxime Barbeer
I think the first step in time life is pretty simple. You just book a seat so you don't have a lot of things to do. I think the second step is to show up to the restaurant. And I think just go to the restaurant and if you don't feel like it, you can go home anywhere. But just go and just see the table and you will see that we're gonna smile at you. They're going to say welcome. They're going to say have a seat. They're going to say, what's your name. You don't have to be. It's not a keynote. You don't know. It's not public speaking. You're not like 300 people. And you have to talk about yourself. There is. We have a lot of introvert people who love to be there, you know, and they are quiet and that's okay. And then people talk a lot and that's okay. So you don't have to prepare for anything. You don't have to think about anything. You just literally, you just have to show up. That's the only thing you have to do. And the rest, you will see it flow pretty easily.
- [28:43]
Kat
Yeah, I would say show up with an open mind, even if you don't love those people. Like, oh, my God, I don't want to be friends with these people. It's just a dinner. Like you were saying, it's not a job interview or anything. Now if you don't like them and you leave. Let's talk about this part. And after the dinner, which I think is really cool as well, you guys send a little questionnaire asking, like, let's say if you and I were in the same group, they send you a questionnaire, like, hey, did you like Cat? Would you have dinner with her again? Yes. Right. So you kind of have the opportunity to rate, in a way, the people that you are with. And I think that's really nice because I think people should at least try, make an effort to be nice.
- [29:32]
Maxime Barbeer
Yeah. But yeah, it's not exactly a rating in the sense. Yeah, you say, you know, like five star. It's like, it's just a simple question. It's like, do you want to see this person again? And if this person say, yes, and, you know, it's mutual agreement, like, we want to see each other again.
- [29:48]
Kat
Yeah.
- [29:48]
Maxime Barbeer
Then the algorithm, we try to put you in the same table, you know, in the following weeks. So. Because what we believe at time left is, is like people don't want to meet strangers. People want to meet strangers to find someone they like and, you know, to have a friendship, have a love relationship, whatever. So we really want to have people to see each other. We believe in time left. You need 10 dinner to really know someone.
- [30:10]
Kat
10 dinners.
- [30:11]
Maxime Barbeer
And so the goal is to help you to get 10 dinners with this person within the group to feel comfortable to say, I don't know. Like, the example I give most of the time is like, we have a dinner with you and me and we find, you know, we like each other. Right. But then if I talk to you, the Next day, hey, Kat, do you want to have brunch with me? You're like one on one brunch. I don't know, you know, and then I'm not available ever. And then, you know, life goes on and we never met. So what we want to do is like, you show up, I don't know, in three weeks. Oh, Maxim is at the same table. Love it. Cool. Then you have a better connection with Kat and Max. And then at one point, maybe after five or six dinners, you will be comfortable to have a brunch with me or to go to my house party with some friends, you know, and I will be also comfortable to invite you to something more meaningful to me. Because now we know, you know, we're on the same line.
- [30:55]
Kat
Yeah, well, I think it depends on who it is. Like, you could hit it off. Like, my first dinner, there was a lady on my table. She had lived in Sweden for so long and we were talking and she was so nice. She was back in, in la. She was out from LA originally. And I have a lot of Swedish friends here, so we had a lot in common. And through the app, by the way, after dinner we have the option of communicating with those people that we had dinner with. We can text each other and say, so me and this lady, we exchanged cell phones and we're like, oh, it was so nice to me. So it could happen that if you really like someone, you can become friends with that person outside of the app.
- [31:36]
Maxime Barbeer
Yes. We have people who find love on the first night. I find my. One of my best friend in Lisbon. So yeah, you can have amazing stories, that's for sure. And also we create this thing of like, do you want to see this person again? Because if you say yes, then you create a chat in the app and we have these features for everyone to make safe about, you know, like, you don't have to ask the number at the end of the dinner, you know, this uncomfortable moment, I'm like, can I get your number? Oh, I don't know. No, no, you just, just go do your thing. And then at the end you say, I like, I like kids. Guys like me, boom, you can have a chat. Then you exchange WhatsApp. You do what you want to do.
- [32:09]
Kat
Yeah. Now I personally think. And tell me if you disagree because again, I don't know. I don't even think this is a cultural thing. This is a very personal opinion. I think these dinners. And there is a game, by the way. There's a really cool game on the app, like a question and answer game to break the ice. And I love that. It's fun, silly questions that really help and, and make the whole experience fun. But I personally think people should avoid talking about politics and religion on a dinner like that because I think these are very heavy duty topics that can get people very fired up. Especially like, let's say here in the United States, it's election year. You know, half of the country is divided one side, the other half that I feel uncomfortable if people start getting fiery during dinner discussing politics, because I don't want to get into that. I want to have a good time. Do you agree with me?
- [33:06]
Maxime Barbeer
Yeah, I agree. It's. I think it's, it's, you know, the people at the table is the first time you're going to see this person. So talking about heavy subject or civil, like really polarizing, you know, like politics and stuff, it can be interesting, but it can be also super risky. Of course, we don't want to be so superficial, but there is a lot of question. You can talk about yourself. We are about. You don't have to talk about the news or the politics. You can say, what is the last thing you did for the first time? What is something you're proud of? What's your biggest challenge next year? So there is so many good questions we put in the app to help you to have deeper conversation without having to talk about risky stuff.
- [33:46]
Kat
Yeah, exactly. And so on the third dinner, this big rooftop party, my table was of all the three groups. It was the group that I enjoyed the least because I felt better, to be really honest with you, Max, because I felt so bad for this guy. I was talking to him the whole night, but I noticed he was uncomfortable. And one of the ladies, all of a sudden, she started go ranting about politics, like really fiery. And everybody kind of stayed quiet, you know, because nobody wanted to argue with her. And that's why I said at the end, like, would you have dinner with this person again? I'm like, no, that was the only time.
- [34:23]
Maxime Barbeer
That's okay. Like, it's not, it's not a bad thing to say no to someone. You know, like, the goal is to say no. If you don't want to see this person again, that's okay. I mean, you don't have to be friends with everyone, right? You know, we say we have only maximum is five plus one in our life and it's maybe 30 friends in our life. So you don't need 30, you don't need 200. So.
- [34:41]
Kat
Yeah, exactly.
- [34:42]
Maxime Barbeer
But I said, oh, when you don't feel like it. And I think that's okay. A lot of people say no, you know.
- [34:46]
Kat
Yeah, no, I totally agree. And, but like I said to me, that's what Major would make me say. Like, I don't want to see you again. Like if you start getting too aggressive about a subject, too radical about a subject, or talking about inappropriate things, a few questions that I know people are gonna ask the restaurant because it's a group of six and how do we split the bill? Each person pays what they want. It's not like a, a set price. It's nothing like that.
- [35:13]
Maxime Barbeer
Yes.
- [35:14]
Kat
Yeah, we pay a fee 2 time left to attend. Which is very, very affordable by the way. It's not increasing.
- [35:21]
Maxime Barbeer
1616 USD for the single ticket and 24, I think for the membership. Right. With the membership you can book every week if we, if you want to.
- [35:30]
Kat
Amazing. So it's super affordable. I think everybody can pay for that. And then you go to a restaurant and whatever you eat, right, you pay for your own food. And if you decide to drink alcohol, which is another thing. Do you guys have guidelines to people like, hey, don't go crazy, don't get drunk.
- [35:49]
Maxime Barbeer
Yeah, we have safety guideline on the website. Yes. We recommend to not go join on the first dip. That's for sure. Yeah. You know, like we connected more than 300,000 people since the beginning of the year and we didn't have any big problem because it's a dinner in a restaurant. You know, people behave like I will never do this concept in the home, like dinner with strangers in the. Oh no. Hello.
- [36:15]
Kat
Liabilities too high.
- [36:17]
Maxime Barbeer
Yeah, but it's a restaurant, you're in a public space, you have waiters, you know, it's a groups you're not alone with. You know, it's not a one on one. So yeah, people behave strangely most of the time.
- [36:32]
Kat
And you do offer something called like the after hours. So you have dinner and if you choose to continue your night, then you open up the address of where you're gonna have like an after dinner get together. Right?
- [36:49]
Maxime Barbeer
Yes, we in most of, most of the city, Los Angeles, of course included, we have a last drink. So after the dinner. So to give you an ide if people don't understand the concept. So in New York in two days, we're going to have 1,000 people having dinner together and they're going to be spread across like 80 restaurants. And so we said to the oldest people, hey, you want to have a large drink? Go all together in one place. And so It's a, it's an opportunity to see more people you know in the same night and to be. To see people you already know from previous dinner and to have a nice drink. That's also Wednesday is better than Monday because Monday people don't want to go.
- [37:23]
Kat
No, I completely agree. Now, how do you choose the restaurants?
- [37:28]
Maxime Barbeer
We have a team of operation in each country. So we have people in the US who are managing the 45 city. We are in 45 city in the US now and they're managing this. We have some guidelines.
- [37:38]
Kat
Wait, wait, you said 45 cities in the US alone?
- [37:42]
Maxime Barbeer
Yes.
- [37:42]
Kat
Wow, that's incredible.
- [37:44]
Maxime Barbeer
We are in Austin, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, San Diego, New York, Denver, Boston.
- [37:54]
Kat
Everybody can. So somebody's listening. You can go to your website and find out all the cities welcome you.
- [38:00]
Maxime Barbeer
Sign up and when you sign up, you choose us and you will see all the city we are.
- [38:03]
Kat
Yeah, all the major cities. So your team reaches out to the. Do you reach out to restaurants at all price points or do you try to find.
- [38:13]
Maxime Barbeer
No, no, we, we got to a certain price point. We guarantee or. So if you are like a veggie or vegan, you're going to have like this option at the restaurant you're going to be sent. Now we try to. We don't go to fancy restaurants. We just like to find this really cool restaurant. You know, people have a good time, there is no live music and there is just, you can talk and exchange. We don't send people to like super specific. Like we don't send people to sushi place or like barbecue place or like pizza place because, you know, it's really specific. It's more about restaurant with plate to share appetizer, like, you know, medic. Tapas.
- [38:50]
Kat
Yeah, yeah, no, I, I've been very lucky because the first one that, that I went, it was a vegetarian restaurant here and I'm not vegetarian, but I love the restaurant so much. Has a great bar, a lot of options on the menu. So I really enjoyed it. The second one was great. The third one that you guys did a groupon was a beautiful rooftop in Hollywood. So you guys are doing an amazing job. At least my experience here in L. A. You guys are picking really fun, fabulous places. And like you said, the thing you.
- [39:20]
Maxime Barbeer
Did on the rooftop is we did we do that only on the big cities. So now we're doing only in Los Angeles, Chicago, in New York. It's once per month instead of having only two or three table per restaurant with final restaurant and we win like 80 to 100 people to have dinner in the same restaurant at the same night and we do a party on top of it.
- [39:39]
Kat
Yeah. Which is awesome because yeah, you, you were sitting on your table during dinner and then if you want to socialize after dinner, you stay there and then you can stand up and go to the bar, whatever the other area and you hang out. And then Instead of meeting six, eight people, you're meeting 85, 100 people, even more at the same time. So that's really.
- [39:59]
Maxime Barbeer
And they're all open minded.
- [40:00]
Kat
Exactly. They're all open to meeting new friends like you are now. You said you would never do this in a private residency. No, but do you, do you think about doing different things like let's say a happy hour or lunch or anything like that? Brunch. Are you gonna stick to dinner on Wednesdays?
- [40:22]
Maxime Barbeer
I believe now we need to do something simple and to doing it and to do it really well. And so the goal now is to. So we're going to be in 300 City by the end of the year. We are expanding quickly in Asia Pacific and Middle east and all this in Africa. We really want to people to understand it's Wednesday and it's a dinner dinner. I believe it's an amazing things to connect people. So you know, some competitor try to do the drinks with strangers, for example. And the problem with the drinks is like you can easily disconnect for someone, you know, oh, sorry, I need to go or I need to go to the toilets and whatever and you just vanish. And so the restaurant is an amazing technology to connect people. Also I think the restaurant, they need us, you know, they're struggling, they need people, they need clients. So they are so happy to work with us. So I think it's a sweet spot. You know, Wednesday dinners at night is kind of a sweet spot.
- [41:14]
Kat
I completely agree with you. I love it. I think you guys are doing an amazing job. How many countries are you in now?
- [41:21]
Maxime Barbeer
We are in 40 countries.
- [41:22]
Kat
40 countries. So you guys can go to time left dot com, right Max?
- [41:28]
Maxime Barbeer
Yes. And on dot com or download the app on the app stores. There is a city for sure where you live and there is a dinner. Everyone's there and you just need to click on one button and that's it.
- [41:38]
Kat
And that's it. You click, you pay the fee, you go to a fabulous restaurant, you meet a great group of people and you expand your. And it could be networking, it could be good for your business. It could be good for so many different things. It might end up, like you said, flirting, dating, whatever. Because it happens. Right, but that's not the main goal of time lapse.
- [41:58]
Maxime Barbeer
Exactly.
- [41:59]
Kat
Congratulations. So when is this Thousand people dinner in New York? In case there's any New Yorkers out there that want to participate.
- [42:06]
Maxime Barbeer
So we're going to be 1000 in two days. It's meaning in the whole city. The next big party in New York will be the first Wednesday of September.
- [42:15]
Kat
Oh, wow.
- [42:15]
Maxime Barbeer
Okay. And in la, I think also it's going to be the first Wednesday of September.
- [42:20]
Kat
Okay, so all this information is on the website?
- [42:23]
Maxime Barbeer
Yes.
- [42:23]
Kat
And the app is Time Left.
- [42:26]
Maxime Barbeer
Time Left. You didn't ask me why Time Left.
- [42:29]
Kat
Oh, yeah, that's. No. And you know what? I got so rattled with the earthquake, I'm trying to get back focused because that was like the last question on my list. Like, how did you exactly. How did you pick the name Time Left? Thanks for reminding. My brain is fried right now.
- [42:48]
Maxime Barbeer
So Time Left for. The first idea of Time Left was before this concept of dinner with strangers, which were something different. It was to connect people who have the same dream in common. So it was an app. You can swipe dreams, and every day I'm going to match you with someone who has the same dream. And so then the concept was Time Left. What do you want to do with. The time you get left is like, go after your dreams, you know, like, you know, you have only one life, all this kind of thing. And I'm kind of really obsessed. Not obsessed, but I'm, like, really aware of, like, we're gonna die one day and life is super short and. And. And I think everyone should realize that. So that's the name time has come for, that we keep it. Some people think it's depressing, actually. I love it.
- [43:31]
Kat
Yeah. So, yeah, I love that because I'm. I have kind of, like, the same mindset. I'm very immediate with my life because I had a lot of losses. I lost a lot of people that I loved. And I agree with you. Life is so short, it's so finite. And I love the concept because so many times we stay home. I know people suffer from depression, from loneliness. They sit in front of the TV like they. They defrost the frozen dinner, the microwave, literally, because they don't have anybody to go out with. And it's just so beautiful how much you guys are uniting total strangers there and making a difference in their life. So, yeah, I like the. How you. You came up with the name. We don't have all the time left, but we have some time left.
- [44:16]
Maxime Barbeer
No, we have time left, but based on people have depression. I want to comment on that. And, and, and talking to, to people is, it's an amazing way to go outside of depression. You know, you can take, you know, medication and stuff, but talking to strangers, it's, it's what make people live healthy and longer. It's proven now.
- [44:34]
Kat
Yeah.
- [44:34]
Maxime Barbeer
And if you feel lonely or depressed, just go and talk and actually talking with strangers is sometimes more easy than talking to friends. I don't know who you are, maybe you're not going to see them again. I have interesting conversation attend at dinner. People are like, wow, super open themselves about, you know, what's not going well on their life and, and they have some feedback and it is honest feedback in a sense because you know your friends, when you ask something, they're like always saying the same stuff. So yes, you go to therapy or so you can just try. Timeless is an amazing way to really.
- [45:07]
Kat
I agree 1 million percent. I, I'm living proof that it's so much fun. I met so many fun, interesting people. Great conversation. I highly recommend you guys try it out. Every Wednesday's dinner with Strangers. Cat on the Loose has audiences in 54 countries and more. So I hope there is one in your country and you guys are growing fast and furious. So you have plans to expand. Expand, right. I met a girl here in la. She lives all the way in Long beach and she's done more than 10. Her name is Laura and she drives because you guys, you should open up, by the way, Long Beach, Orange county.
- [45:44]
Maxime Barbeer
Because this girl is gonna be opening.
- [45:46]
Kat
Yeah, there you go. I told her, I said I'm sure they're gonna do, but she loves it so much. She literally drives every Wednesday. So yeah, you guys should try to find the time left and go for it. Don't be shy, don't be embarrassed because you are gonna be so glad you did it. And I'm putting the link of the website here on this episode. So try it out. Max, thank you so much for your time.
- [46:06]
Maxime Barbeer
I hope so much. Good.
- [46:08]
Kat
Next time you come to the United States or you make la, please let me know so we can do another one in. We can have dinner.
- [46:15]
Maxime Barbeer
It's. It's not a legend. I go to dinner every Wednesday incognito. So maybe on the night if I go to slam left and you go to the dinner, maybe I will be at your table.
- [46:23]
Kat
There you go. I hope I meet you in person. Congratulations. You're doing something really amazing and it's an honor to have you. And thanks for winging with me during this crazy earthquake. That thank you. Thank you so much, Max. Guys, be safe out there. Time left. Big shout out to the Burrata House, one of my favorite casual dining places in the heart of West Hollywood. They make authentic, delicious, fresh Italian food, sandwiches, pasta, salads with the delicious, delicious, fresh burrata on Top on 161 South Crescent Heights. So if you're looking for a place that you can have a quick bite for lunch, dinner takeout for your family, this is it. And I love, of course, supporting local businesses. So if you guys are in the Los Angeles area, West Hollywood, go check out the Burrata House. If you guys want to see pictures, burratahouse.com on Instagram Burata House. I love, love, love their food so much. Everything is really, really yummy.