It would be appropriate to quote a song like Barbra Streisand’s “The Way We Were” or even “Memory” from Cats given Pixorial’s target market. The video sharing startup launches to the public today and is hoping to be a place where boomers, families and anyone with a pile of old VHS tapes can digitize and share their past online.

Pixorial works like this. If your video is already digital, you can upload it directly, if it’s stored on an old reel of film, a VHS tape or any number of different physical media, you send it via UPS to the Pixorial offices, where the company digitizes it. Once it’s been uploaded you get a link where you can view or edit the footage online. The resulting edited clip can then be shared online or you can purchase a DVD or hi-res download of it.

All the editing tools are online, and even better, you can invite others to collaborate on a video, so users can mix and match memories to create a whole new experience.

I had a couple of old VHS tapes that I hadn’t looked at in ages (I don’t even remember when I last had a VHS player). Pixorial let me test out the service and it worked as promised. I shipped off my tape, they digitized it and I spent a good part of one afternoon laughing at my much younger self and editing out the most embarrassing bits. Embedded is video from 1990 of me on a college bowl-style show called Quizzard that ran locally on Honolulu’s KHNL 13. No, that’s not me doing the rap — but that is my mullet, and those are my braces.

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The new year doesn’t promise to bring much in the way of good tidings for most startups, much less those with the shaky business models found in digital media. But, at the same time, online video consumption is a strengthening reality that won’t be suppressed by tough economic times. So, if you’re involved in a video venture looking out at the spread for 2009, where do you stand?

First of all, let’s talk about where things ended up last year. The big news items for video startups (and young, internal ventures at big companies) in 2008 were acquisitions, layoffs and shut-downs — and of course fundings. Many of the companies we cover raised funding last year, though the pace of new investments slowed along with the economy. (As for including a category for IPOs…yeah right.) To recap some of the highlights (and lowlights):

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Woody Benson is a VC with Prism VentureWorks in Boston, which has funded new media startups like Comedy.com and Worldwide Biggies (whose MoCap, LLC web series just got picked up by Spike TV). He spoke at The Conversation conference in Berkeley yesterday. Given the rough week tech companies were having, I thought I’d ask him a few questions to get a VC’s perspective on what new media startups should do right now.

Benson was hardly doom and gloom. In fact he considered now a great time for startups to find cheap real estate and programming talent. He did echo the sentiments of other VCs and likened startup hygiene to flossing — you gotta pay attention to how your spending money every day. Hear what else he had to say in this brief video interview.

See also our guest-post on similar topics by VC Danny Cohen of Gemini Israel.

Eyespot, a San Diego-based online video startup, has shut down operations and is trying to sell its assets. News of the dissolution comes via a Twitter from Eyespot co-founder David Dudas picked up by TechCrunch.

Eyespot had initially offered web-based video editing tools before changing strategy earlier this year to be yet another white-label video vendor. Its white-label customers had at one time included Demand Media’s eHow and ExpertVillage. The company raised $3.7 million in October 2006.

The web video editing tool market has seen a lot of carnage and also payouts along the way. It’s never been all that clear to me exactly why some companies lost and some won. For some reason the little sliver of a sector played out in fast-forward compared other online video startups, many of whom continue to trudge along.

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With the proliferation of companies in the online video space tripping over themselves to cater to young men, it’s nice to see someone other than Oprah or iVillage targeting female audiences. SheZoom is a new video site that’s angling to be an “upbeat and engaging community that encourages women to laugh, learn, share and connect.”

SheZoom offers original, partnered and user-generated video. Content categories include relationships, food, tech, money and more. It’s even brought on experts in different fields to provide advice on particular topics. And to help you make your selection, SheZoom will even ask what you’re in the mood to do — choices include “laugh,” “cry,” “bitch” and “moan.”

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