It seems like they had a lot of smart people doing smart things. I would hope it wanted to be open and non-profit so it didn't have to live by the "move fast and break things" mentality of all start ups.
That went out the window the day they made the deal with MS and that's precisely when they took off. With a few billion in your pocket you are able to execute faster and better on your vision than when you are doing it for glory and fame.