"... which I personally believe are working against building our user base."

If we are to be honest with each other and with ourselves, I am quite sure that you realize that under Steemit's current design, its user base of active members will never grow beyond its current level, and if fact, will continue to decline as it has been doing over the past year. New members sign up. Perhaps they invest in some Steem, and perhaps not. But as soon as they discover that it is virtually impossible to make any money with the platform, they will want out as quickly as possible. The only thing creating the "illusion" of greater support, is the fact that it takes 13 weeks to get your investment back. Remove that barrier, and I am confident that you would find that Steemit would essentially become a ghost town overnight.