I think the most important thing that has to happe

I think the most important thing that has to happen in order for a reverse split to not completely destroy existing shareholders is for the company to alter its share structure in proportion to the split. 

It happens all the time in pinkyland, where a split happens but the share structure remains the same.  So now these companies have the same amount of shares in their possession to dump into the higher share price.  I got caught more than once.  :-/

And thanks for the clarity on uplisting - guess I was aiming too high!