I guess it all depends on your reasons for starting a blog. The author of this piece is a marketer, so is very interested in gathering metrics to see how well they are presenting themselves.

Personally, I think slavishly following metrics leads inevitably towards low-content click-bait articles, something that this article seems to be actually advocating for. The silliest things will get a lot of hits while more considered content will get ignored.

Additionally, although there are worse things than Google Analytics, you are imposing it on your users for your own gratification. Perhaps your users don't want Google to know every page they visit.

Here is my advice for starting a blog: start a blog.

Install GA if you want to look a pretty graphs but don't worry too much about the numbers unless you are selling something. And if you are selling something, worry about sales, not hits.