Staff
Nick Ortega is the Co-Founder and CEO of Claybourne Co, a cultivator and distributor specializing in growing brands throughout California. Claybourne’s house brand, Claybourne Co, is known for its innovative flower products such as the The Claybourne Power PackTM and the Claybourne Top Shelf 1oz jar. With a heavy focus on flower product innovation, Claybourne differentiates itself by offering retailers and consumers products that they desire by listening to their needs and not accepting the status quo. Innovation stems from consumer needs, and Claybourne prides itself on always having their ear to the ground to stay ahead of competition.
Prior to Claybourne, Nick was Global Product Manager for Dover Corporation where he led the global expansion of brands through new product development, sales and operations. At Claybourne, Nick uses his experience as a product focused executive to lead the strategic vision and execution of the company alongside his co-founders, Jonathan Griffith and Brent Barnes. Next on the horizon, using Brent Barnes’ vast plant breeding and agricultural experience to develop innovative cultivars that offer disease tolerance, heartiness, improved yields, and unique cannabinoid and terpene profiles.
Green Market Report Executive Spotlight Q&A –
Full birth name: Nicholas William Ortega
Title: Chief Executive Officer
Company: Claybourne Co
Years at current company: 2
Education profile: Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering – Cal Poly Pomona, Masters of Business Administration – University of California, Irvine
Most successful professional accomplishment before cannabis: I spent the majority of my career at Dover Corporation (DOV), most recently as Global Product Manager for key growth product lines within the Dover industrial pump portfolio. While under my management, these products realized over 65% YoY revenue growth for multiple years running while competing with decades old incumbents that had much larger budgets and brand recognition. The position taught me the importance of truly knowing your customers’ needs and the positive impact that new product development can have on both top and bottom line growth.
Company Mission: To curate a portfolio of feelings, attainable by all consumer demographics, backed by science, and communicated clearly to consumers through transparency.
Company’s most successful achievement: The Claybourne Power Pack is a product unlike any other on the market that launched on May 24th, 2019. It offers the customer a combination of products unlike anything they’ve seen in the California market to date. It includes an 1/8th of flower and a gram of high quality kief all in one re-usable rolling pouch. This is truly a product that culminated from consumer and buyer demand, thought of not by us but by our customers. We simply executed on their needs. In our opinion, there is no more perfect route to successful product development.
Has the company raised any capital (yes or no): No. We are self-funded to date.
Any plans on raising capital in the future? Yes. We are in the middle of closing our first Angel Round at a $1M raise, with a Series A on the horizon in 12 months.
Most important company 5 year goal: Through product innovation, we strive to be one of the top 5 brands in California in 5 Years.
