Harris began his career as a consultant at Bain & Company, Boston, in 1994. While there, he worked in the technology, consumer products, financial services, and telecommunications industries. In 1995, he signed on as an associate with Bain Capital. At Bain Capital, Harris' most notable transactions included the $1.1 billion purchase and subsequent sale of a credit-reporting agency, and the $90 million purchase of a medical products distributor.

Harris left Bain Capital in 1997 to become the founding managing director of The Berkshires Capital Investors, a venture capital fund chartered to invest in companies in Berkshire County. Under Harris' leadership, BCI's first fund of $5 million generated top quartile returns to investors. BCI invested in Tripod, Inc. (sold to Lycos in 1998 for $58 million); Employease, Inc (named to Red Herring magazine's 100 "Most Important Companies in the World" list for 2000); Berkshire Wireless, Inc. and Streetmail.com. The BCI organization, now a Village Ventures affiliate, has gone on to raise an additional $60 million.

At BCI, Harris noted that a number of markets boast the attributes of Berkshire County, namely access to intellectual capital, a high quality of life, and a low cost of doing business. However, these regional niches are traditionally underserved by private equity firms. Village Ventures was created to bring venture capital and services to these markets.

Harris graduated from Williams College in 1994, and now lives in Williamstown , MA. He is active in the business community of Williamstown and Berkshire County, and is involved in many civic organizations. He serves as Chair of Mass Competitive Council for Berkshire County, an economic development initiative sponsored by the governor of Massachusetts, and as a trustee for the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts and the Berkshire Museum. Matt is a member of the Renewable Energy Industry Support Advisory Board, and he sits on the board of the Williamstown Theatre Festival, the Williamstown Savings Bank board of incorporators, as well as the boards of Skillview Technologies, Inc, Mindbranch and BlueTarp.