A new computing paradigm is entering the commercial market: quantum computing. GigaOM says it has real potential to solve currently unsolvable big data problems, without increasing energy consumption.

Vern Brownell, CEO of D-Wave, is giving us a hint of how it will change what’s possible for big data. Think in terms of leaving Moore's Law far, far behind and a unit being a "qubit", the quantum computing analog of the classical bit.

Fascinating interview — and, yes, there was talk that quantum computing as a service (QCaaS) will be happening! Here's the video.

(UPDATE: For more on quantum computing, read this detailed interview that appeared recently in The Washington Post — natch, as Jeff Bezos is an investor in D-Wave and now owns the paper!: This company sold Google a quantum computer. Here’s how it works.

But, before you believe all the hype, also read an article that my smart friend Jason Baker, CTO of Asset Record Co., shared with me in real time via Facebook message while I was blogging about this session. It was published just a month ago in IEEE Spectrum: D-Wave's Quantum Computing Claim Disputed Again.)

Next on-stage chat is Colin Coleman, Sr. Director, Analytics Products Strategy and Data Governance, at Turner Broadcasting System, with Mike Dauber of Battery Ventures. Colin is an ex-NASA rocket scientist and says media analytics is actually harder than rocket science. How do you measure multiple channels in real time, for example? Attribution is another problem he admits is not solved.

Stacey Higginbotham of Gigaom is moderating this one. The panelists are Sven Strohband — Partner and CTO, Khosla Ventures, Jalak Jobanputra — Managing Partner, FuturePerfect Ventures, Shivon Zilis — VC, Bloomberg Beta, and Hilary Mason — Data Scientist in Residence, Accel Partners.

First off, real applications! And please don't say you're a big data company when you pitch, because that probably means you're not.

"Data does not have value. You have to build the technology that makes it valuable," says Hillary, who points out she's the only one on the panel that's actually not an investor (rather, she's a data scientist who hangs around with VCs).

"Where do you find deals?" Stacey asks the panel. They look for "early signals," of course. (As in data!) They look to university researchers, corporate refugees, and the panelists that are NY-based really feel they have an edge, with "so many domain specialists located here." Sven likes to connect smart people and see what they can come up with.

"What pitches do you not want to hear anyore?"  Don't say you're "like the AirBnB of something – we can figure that out." Hilary Mason: "No more Hadoop in the cloud."