The linked article discusses very different reasons for preferring kube. CTOs and hiring managers like it for reasons totally different from the cargo cult/hype-driven engineers.

Yeah I read the article and I saw that.

And I do think there is a way to use kubernetes with minimal damage, but it requires making firm rules about not focusing on things that aren't needed yet (e.g. istio) and making firm hiring choices about only people who understand that such optimizations are complete wastes of time for a series A startup.