Making things, aka being an engineer, is an art and a craft that takes time to master. Even if you work in software, there are no quick routes to riches. Zuckerberg may have been young when he hit it big, but he had been programming for a long time. I can't imagine that physical engineering takes less time to master (but hey, I don't really know.)

My point is "traditional product-making firms" probably fail to offer fast-track positions because there is no fast track to being good at traditional product making.