Yes, absolutely. I've known how it goes down from the very beginning because I made it a point to study the accounts of several successful Steemers. I still do it. What I immediately realized was that they weren't an overnight success - unless they ported over an existing user base from somewhere else; i.e., YouTube.
I haven't recommended any friends come here yet. I'm creating a short list of people we'd actually want here who would create thought-provoking content. I'm leaving some people off my list (for now) because I find it difficult to explain how the platform works to certain people. I need to come up with a good, simple explanation of it first. And of course, like you said, make sure they know the reality.