That's the really obvious reason that everyone I know is afraid to start a company without getting the .com first. But the OP makes a good point that it hasn't

That's the really obvious reason that everyone I know is afraid to start a company without getting the .com first. But the OP makes a good point that it hasn't been as big a barrier as we have feared. Square, for example, is a superb name and I think they made the right decision to proceed with Squareup.com, even though I thought it was foolish at the time. Turns out they were right, and I was wrong. Square is a damned good name. I wouldn't have had the cojones to proceed with the name, but they did, and good for them.