I strongly disagree with this view. As an interviewing I have always reviewing GitHub profiles when provided and considered them a plus, compared with them not being mentioned at all.
Perhaps I am a dying breed however.
I do strongly believe having the GitHub profile, at least and especially as a junior showcases some level of passion and interest, and some level of confidence.
However, also having a profile that contains only a university script is not valuable.
I would argue a worthwhile CTO would look out for the same, even if they wouldn't analyse lines of code. I'd expect them to have a prefunctory look. Let's consider Eilon Mustk reviewing your CV, you think he would not review your GitHub profile if you provided it and your CV arrive on his table?
This is one of the lesson I feel most for! Many times investments even if small in nature can have a sunk cost fallacy effect. And by not moving on one can end up incurring even more cost on themselves! Mentally and materially sometimes.
I agree that starting simple makes all the difference. The demo themes have a lot of content and it can be extremely overwhelming when you find yourself face to face with the challenge of populating your website to the same extent and quality standards.
Great article!