up in the air

Here are some of my (mostly LA based) favorite startups for 2011.

Betterworks is bulk buying employee amenities like gym memberships and giving business owners a cohesive program to provide employee benefits at a reduced price. Co founded by one of my favorite people in the LA tech scene, and major LA angel turned entrepreneur @paigecraig, definitely keep an eye on this one.

Newspepper has a unique model of covering tech news - they hire college students on the cheap. But that doesn’t mean they sacrifice quality. British tech news queen @hermioneway has moved from the other side of the pond to bring this unique model to Silicon Valley and LA.

Gtrot is trying to be a “Tripit for college students” helping spring breaker’s everywhere coordinate, among other things. It’s led by one of my favorite young entrepreneurs, Brittany Laughlin. Follow her here: @br_ttany.

Beachmint is making it easy for girls everywhere to get trendy jewelry at a steal, and ended 2010 with partners like Kate Bosworth. The startup is leading the charge in a new wave of “social ecommerce.” It’s led by two ex-Slingshot labs execs and brilliant guys, Diego Berdakin and Josh Berman.

People love video, and Tinychat has quickly become the #1 video application on Facebook. It allows “many to many” video chat rooms, allowing stars to chat with their fans, and fans to chat with each other. The startup has managed to attract big names to their service and boasts over 5M of video chat minutes per day.

Partners Project was co founded by LA tech heiress @shiralazar and @damonberger and interviews new media stars. Shira has been everywhere in 2010, including a regular show on CBS. The Partners Project aims to become the “talk show” of YouTube. Watch out, Oprah.

Soundcloud is aiming to become the “Flickr” of music. It allows musicians everywhere to collaborate, and fans to share their thoughts. With over 1M members, VCs like Fred Wilson on board, and great execs like Alexander Ljung, 2011 will likely be a great year for this Berlin and San Francisco-based startup.