Matt Wisdom Email & Phone Number

New Orleans, Lousiana, Us

I founded Civilized to bring modern solutions to some of the oldest and toughest challenges in government infrastructure. After a year of learning firsthand from FixNOLA’s work, it was clear that cities need better tools to manage resources, report problems, and engage with citizens. Civilized is taking what we’ve learned in New Orleans to build a platform that helps governments worldwide work more effectively, bridging gaps in communication and making complex civic tasks easier for both citizens and city workers.At Civilized, our mission is global: to make government work better for everyone. We’re starting with solutions that support infrastructure management, hiring, contracting, and the daily operations of city governments. We’ve recruited talent from TurboSquid to bring the same level of innovation to Civilized, focusing on usability and outcomes that help governments everywhere tackle critical issues more efficiently.While we are already working with several major U.S. cities to develop our platform, we also donate software and licenses to FixNOLA and the Wisdom Foundation as part of our commitment to New Orleans. Thanks to the TurboSquid acquisition, I’m able to offer this service free to the city that helped shape our mission.Civilized aims to turn the lessons from FixNOLA into a business that improves cities globally. We believe that by solving these problems here in New Orleans, we can create a ripple effect that helps other communities thrive, with tools and processes that empower governments everywhere to serve their citizens more effectively.

The Foundation’s mission is to drive government effectiveness by tackling some of New Orleans' most visible infrastructure problems. Our first project, FixNOLA.net, was launched to bring transparency to the status of reported city issues — like potholes, drainage problems, and abandoned vehicles. Using reports from the 311 system, we’ve created a “ground truth” dataset by sending people to inspect over 17,000 problem sites citywide. So far, we’ve confirmed that around 7,000 issues have been resolved, while about 10,000 remain. FixNOLA.net doesn’t just catalog issues; it also provides map locations, photos, and updates to help residents and city leaders understand which areas need continued attention.The work has shown us both the possibilities and limits of private foundation efforts to improve public infrastructure. Alongside FixNOLA, we’ve investigated the NOLA 311 system in-depth, aiming to better understand its workings and the technology that underpins it. This deep dive revealed the immense challenges that cities like New Orleans face, especially in terms of limited resources and outdated technology. Through these efforts, we’ve learned that infrastructure problems aren’t unique to New Orleans; they’re part of a larger, national issue that most cities are grappling with.With FixNOLA, we’re committed to always providing this work free of charge and without compensation. The Foundation is dedicated to working hand-in-hand with the public sector and providing resources. By addressing these challenges locally, we hope to lay the groundwork for more effective solutions that can be applied in cities around the world.

Investing with a focus on New Orleans. Generally taking a break from Angel to focus on new ideas I’m working on.

Playing & touring for Jeb Rault in Switzerland.

New York, Ny, Us

New Orleans, Louisiana, Us

During my time as CEO, we've instilled an agile, metrics-based culture of success and built a management team of distinguished industry veterans. We've switched from being a product-oriented company to a customer-driven one. Our resources are heavily focused on what we do best -- running a 3D marketplace. Revenue has grown dramatically and we have clear market leadership in the stock 3D industry.

New Orleans, Louisiana, Us

Co-founded and contributed the original idea for TurboSquid, helped manage and fund the organization, and built a phenomenal development team. During this period, I managed all client/server product design and development from initial beta through the first six years of releases, including key initiatives such as integration with Autodesk's 3ds Max, early targeting of Google, the product recommendations engine, and the anti-fraud system. As the company matured, I recruited staff and broadened our team to utilize a highly productive onshore/offshore work structure. Additionally, as part of my responsibilities I lead the design and implementation of the overall corporate technology infrastructure. My role expanded into other areas like marketing, support, and finance as we utilized data and analytics more effectively.

Co-founded a general publishing platform for user generated content of all types. Merged ideas and team into TurboSquid.

Co-founded a visual effects firm where I did everything from 3D animation (starting with Alias V4), Compositing (Flint), Plugin Development (Flint/Flame/Inferno), and some editing and sound work as well as being a producer. The work was mostly for hundreds of broadcast spots but also legal trials as demonstrative evidence. It was a great education in starting a company, managing artists, and learning an industry. Merged team into TurboSquid.