Author here. It's not ass-kissing, it's a genuine compliment -- Antonio is a good writer.

Also, I think his success with the blog posts is instructive. Antonio freely admits that he's writing "linkbait blog posts to get us free PR" (http://adgrok.com/why-founding-a-three-person-startup-with-z...). I wouldn't advise trying this unless you have something genuinely engaging to say. But you have to admit it's an inventive, low-cost way to get your startup off the ground.