I have been thinking about the same thing. Building a reputation now, while the community is small, while not caring much about fast rewards, will go a LONG way.

Let me give you a short example. Over at YouTube, we see that the top most subscribed channels like Smosh, RayWilliamJohnson, Ryan Higa, Vsauce and many many more have been there since the beginning; before YouTube was even paying anything to anyone! They were just having fun and in the process, were building reputation for themselves. And in 10 years that they have been active, look at them now. They are renowned brands and have a healthy financial situation.

Point being, we are very very lucky to have discovered Steemit in its early days. EXTREMELY lucky. In the coming years, if people work hard AND smart, who knows, we might have our own celebrities! Current users should not be looking at whales and getting disheartened. In fact, one day after 1-2 years, new users will be looking at THEM. So just keep at it, fellow Steemers! :)