I'm a partner in a virtual agency. The model works. It's tough though (your processes need to be more finely tuned for traffic management than they are at a traditional agency). Our client's appreciate us being honest that we aren't experts in everything and we grab the best designer / illustrator / writer / etcr based on that client's needs and brand with either myself or our two partners managing the outcome. That said, this model doesn't necessarily solve all of these problems. The sea of sameness in ads are sometimes "death by a 1000 paper cuts" problems. No ad is awesome on version 41. That's one of the reason why we choose to work with entrepreneurs instead of large clients, they are better decision makers and don't care as much as about their opinions as they do outcomes. Great article.