I think it's a weak signal. It should be a nice-to-have, not a deal-breaker. The article's signaling is even weaker in my opinion, and those are deal-breakers of the most superficial kind. It's too easy to gain significant credibility for so little actual work.

>Well I initially said "if somebody doesn't know Joel or Graham, I would probably count it as a minus", not a deal breaker.

Oh, sorry. I still think it can swing opinions too much being what it is.