Forbidding tests is not a business decision, it's a software engineering decision, and it's a remarkably poor one at that.
I have an education and experience in software development. If a manager told me to make a product in an unsafe manner, I'd refuse, and if push came to shove, leave.
Leave, both because I wouldn't be able to defend my work as a professional, but also because I wouldn't work under someone who would want to dictate the manner in which I do what I do.
No one is disagreeing that tests are good in a vacuum / mature product. But if your focus is building a mvp, and you’re trading off the test time with other things, it’s not always worth it.
Screw “leadership” but consider for a second that you’re the leadership.