The biggest problem here is that steem has two power curves that are multiplied together. The white paper shows one power curve, and says, this is the desired outcome. They seem to be happy that they have succeeded, but they have really failed.

When you have 100 votes, and you don't make the trending page, and you barely get a payout. Something is wrong.
When you get 1 vote, and you are solidly on the trending page, and you get a hefty payout. Something is wrong.

The problem is that the voting power distribution curve is a power curve.
Add this to the power curve of payouts, and you get a system that HEAVILY favors the whales.

I suggest you all figure out how many minnow votes equals a whale vote and apply a logarithmic scaler to the vote-power curve.

Figure out how many minnow votes should equal a whale vote and work out the math from there. Having 100x more voting power than a minnow is a huge advantage. However, I feel that calculations of effect is closer to whales having 1,000x the effect, and are moving to having 10,000x the effect.