How do you get initial traction as a B2B-startup?

We operate in the B2B market and the key takeaways I would say are:

Our leads come from: 1, 50% Previous users of our software that move to a new company and then call us up looking for a better system at their new workplace 2, 40% Google Adwords 3, 10% Networking/cold calling 4, 1% Conferences

Of those three the likely prospect of them actually spending:

1, 80% chance because they already know and have already done the selling within the organisation 2, 50% They are actively looking and are open to taking risks 3, 10% This requires a lot of time and energy with very little chance of success 4, <1% In all my time only one customer has ever come out of a conference/expo

1 and 2 basically require very little time, if you have a sales team they'll be doing 3 and 4 because that's all that is left. Networking and conferences provides a side benefit of research, you get to see what the market is doing and where it is going.

The other major thing is buying cycles, plan on a 18 month to 2 year cycle, if the contact you have within the organisation moves on then that is generally a good thing as it opens more opportunities.