Riak Search is a great example of the result of getting the fundamentals right up-front, proving and improving them in a concrete product (Riak), and then extra

Riak Search is a great example of the result of getting the fundamentals right up-front, proving and improving them in a concrete product (Riak), and then extracting the best bits into a reusable library (Riak Core). The way they've done this matches my own philosophy on how this stuff should be done. Not to mention that Riak Search is very cool in and of itself.