The only reason I can think of is OP wants to avoid the inevitable drop in prestige and decision-making power once the suits roll in and regard every engineer i

The only reason I can think of is OP wants to avoid the inevitable drop in prestige and decision-making power once the suits roll in and regard every engineer in the firm as an interchangeable cog in the machine. A better question is "is it possible to build a company with engineers in executive positions?" and the answer is "yes, but it might not be enough, cf Google."