When your CEO announces a key hire and your team lead tells the press 'I have no idea if he's coming,' you have a process problem — not a people problem.
That's exactly what happened at Chilean football giant Colo Colo after their 4-3 win over Everton on Thursday. Coach Fernando Ortiz was asked about goalkeeper Vozinha, whose signing was announced publicly by Blanco y Negro president Aníbal Mosa more than a week ago. The player missed his scheduled flight to Santiago on Thursday due to what his camp has described as personal issues.
Ortiz's response was blunt: 'Do you know if he's coming?... Neither do I.'
That five-word answer is a masterclass in what not to do when onboarding a critical new team member.
The announcement came before the deal was done
According to Vozinha's Portuguese representative, Bernardo Vasconcelos, visa and work permits are resolved — but there is no confirmed arrival date. 'We still cannot give a date with certainty,' Vasconcelos told El Deportivo.
Mosa announced the signing over a week ago. The player hasn't landed. The coach is publicly in the dark. This is what happens when the press release goes out before the logistics are locked.
For founders, the parallel is obvious: don't announce a VP of Sales, a lead engineer, or a strategic partnership until the contract is signed, the start date is set, and the onboarding plan exists. Premature announcements don't build momentum — they build awkward silences.
Ortiz still defended his players
To his credit, Ortiz handled the post-match debrief with composure on the football side. Colo Colo started the game 3-0 down before recovering to win 4-3. 'Not everything we do is perfect or comes out as you think. Players are human beings. We all make mistakes and the reaction is there,' he said.
That framing — acknowledge the error, credit the recovery, keep moving — is exactly right for a locker room. The problem is it doesn't translate to the goalkeeper situation, where the 'reaction' is still nowhere to be seen.
The playbook here is simple
Lock the logistics before you go public. Keep your operators informed before your PR team. And if a key hire is delayed, your team lead should never be the last to know.
Colo Colo leads the Chilean championship table. They can absorb the noise. Most startups can't afford to have their CEO announce a hire their own head of product hasn't heard about.
Founders who get this right move faster — because their teams aren't distracted by uncertainty that should have been resolved before anyone picked up a microphone.
