How important is a domain in 2022?

Back in the day I recall [PG posted][0] that having a .com that was the same as your company name was essential. These days I feel like almost every decent domain that is reasonably short and also naturally means something related to one's product is taken. The options seem to be to create a new word, use a name unconnected to the product, or use a get/try/join prepend. Or spend quite a bit to get a premium domain.

In looking for a startup domain, about 70%+ of the domains I've explored are just parked with a domain seller.

In early startup stage it seems crazy to spend extra money on a domain, but then if you start brand-building, you might lose that work if you change the name later, especially in B2C.

There are a few examples of companies that don't have .com but most who have an alternate domain end up spending $$ to buy the .com later. I'm curious from those who have either bought a premium domain, started with a different name, or chose a random word in order to avoid buying a premium domain, what was your experience?

[0]:http://paulgraham.com/name.html