i totally agree with you, though the bidbots may have their demerits still they are not entirely bad as they pose a good level of benefits and reward , i can say to you that if not for the bidbots you probably might have not even see this post or interested in reading but due to the appreciated value laid on the post you might had found it interesting to read or probably seen it on your feed resteemed.
Like the biblical saying goes "the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard." this is very true here on steem as well, as most good authors never get heard due to lack of finance to promote content and only those with adequate capital can be heard out loud in the entire steem community

Like you said as well:

One possible solution to this dilemma is showcase members who have faced similar challenges and have become successful without the aid of bidbots and the like.....Mentors can be presented with various incentives from among willing 'whales' or Steemit itself towards seeking out and developing promising 'minnows'

this would be very helpful, if an open and transparent discord can be created in respect to this.
Steem is run by the witnesses, and only if the witnesses really have the benefits of the entire community at heart then it would be much easy as they possess a high amount of power.

However if some generous whales who also share the vision of steem can equally partake in this then it would be of great help. Personally from my studies and understanding i doubt if there is any one here who got successful on steemit without the bidbots (i'm not excluded as well) aside those who joined very early in the year 2016 and early 2017. Ever since the initiation of steembots and the high awareness things has entirely turned around and you barely finds successful authors without applying its usage.

It would be really motivating to discover authors who gained their way to success without its usage, however instead of finding such authors i would prefer we change the orientation of the young minnows with great potentials. those whom have already ascertained a high reputation and steem power(WHALES) can come into an open discord with those of low reputation and classified as minnows .
This will be of a very great help just s you well stated.
I really do hope other great authors and powerful steemians get to read or agree to this contribution.

Thanks for your contribution and thank you for stopping by.