My takeaway from the article is that they are looking for someone who is famous, at least as far as fame among programmers goes. I gather they are not so much concerned with your ability to write good code or solve particular problems, but your ability to market their products/services to your fan base. The article emphasizes having a large following on GitHub, and wants to see your GitHub profile specifically (i.e. to measure your popularity).

Same reason famous actors, athletes, etc. are paid more than others doing the same job: Their marketing ability brings more customers to the theatre, stadium, etc. That brings added value and the leverage from that brings added compensation.