Great write up mate. They really just need to communicate more. If Steemit were an ICO in the market today I really don't think it would succeed purely on the complete lack of communications by the team.
When you look at projects such as Powerledger, Ethos, Horizon State etc, they are always saying something.
If @andrachy is the community liason, he needs to be out there saying something by Steemit. Sure there isn't always a big announcement, even if it was just on twitter "Friday arvo beers with the Dev Team after a solid week Steeming it up"
@ned needs to pick up the game as well, he is the boss, he's the one responsible. From the outside looking in for a potential investor (ignoring the tech) the place seems to be run haphazard and iwouldn't want to put my money into it.