For startup, analyzing data is the next big thing

Sure, data is there; tools are there; interest is there; but I'm always wary if skills are there.

We teach computer science, math, statistics, and machine learning but there is no good data mining class. Data mining is about being cunning. Sometimes quantile bootstrapping will work, other times you need cross-validate L1 radial support vector machines with non-linear feature selection. Good dialog with domain expert, broker, game designer, or medical doctor, will save you weeks of work. This is what is so hard to teach ... and we are left with practice.

Agreed. We did a little PR experiment for the holidays where we offered to analyze your Email data for 2011 and the response was enormous: http://yearinreview.toutapp.com.

Big Data is great and all, but the companies that can make meaning out of data are the ones that will win.

Social games already know this. Most people would be flabbergasted by what the big guys know about their players.

It's really like a money-printing machine when you have the data and tools to analyze it.