VentureBeat

IBeatYou is a web site launching today where any user can make up a contest, like “best group lip-dub music video” or “best beard,” then submit entries and compete with others to be voted the winner. Interestingly, it includes a number of celebrities among its early users, including actress Jessica Alba and local NBA basketball star Baron Davis (who’s also an angel investor), that may help give it some extra traction.

Of course, sites from MySpace to YouTube already are talent contests of sorts — the best underground musicians get big (and get discovered) through MySpace; the most entertaining video creators get lots of pageviews through YouTube. MySpace itself grew big through being a way for fans to interact with celebrities. So the fact that Alba, the fiancee of cofounder Cash Warren, spends hours on the site could bring in more users early on. For example, Alba and some other celebrities appear in the Santa Monica company’s entry in the “group lip dub” competition. (Note: The star presence at the company’s Los Angeles offices resulted in the paparazzi showing up, something they’ve never really done to Silicon Valley startups’ offices.)

Generally, IBeatYou’s site includes a variety of features seen on other social sites, an almost overwhelming number of them (see screenshot below the article). You can vote on your favorite entries. There’s a points system and a leaderboard of the top winners — common methods of fostering competition on casual gaming sites of any sort. There’s a full-blown social network profile page, where you can “friend” other users and then, via a sort of newsfeed “ticker,” keep track of their activity as they play the site. You can also leave comments, or “talk smack” on entries or profile pages. Separately, there’s a “pulse” or a public feed of all activity on the site. There’s also a “featured” and “MVP” users section on the front page. The contest featured on the front page changes every day to keep users coming back for new contests.

The company also plans to offer a Facebook application and widgets for the contests that run on other sites, which should help the company reach more users faster. In the meantime, the site seems to have started off well, having gained around 4,000 users through private alpha invites, with its most popular users being top contestants, not the celebrities.

The company has raised angel funding from Prism VentureWorks and two former partners at Crosslink Capital. Angel investors also include Davis, a star on the Oakland-based Golden State Warriors professional basketball team and a childhood friend of Warren’s, as well as retired professional football star Ronnie Lott’s investing arm, Champion Ventures. And, yes, Davis entered his beard in the “best beard” competition.