I think many would agree that reputation/"brand" doesn't pay the bills, and just like any social media platform, only the .01% of creators/employees actually benefit from having a "brand", while most spend a ton of time trying to create one without much luck. In the same way, I'd assume that it takes a lot to actually be a name which is associated with a "brand" in a tech field - many, I'm sure, have failed and wasted a lot of energy which could have been put towards living life outside of work