David Ilishah

David Ilishah is a managing director in the private markets trading group at Piper Sandler, focusing on originating and executing secondary transactions in mid- to late-stage private companies. Ilishah works closely with private company shareholders and institutional investors, and has built a reputation as a trusted partner in the venture secondary market with a high touch, relationship-first approach. 

Ilishah has 12 years of experience in private markets, having executed over 1,000 private transactions throughout his career. Prior to joining Piper Sandler, he spent seven years at Forge Global, most recently as a senior director on the institutional markets team, where he was one of the firm's top producers. During his tenure, he cultivated a vast network of deep relationships across venture funds, family offices, asset managers and founding teams to facilitate liquidity in leading private companies. 

Ilishah began his career at Standish Management, a venture capital and private equity fund administrator, working directly with VC firms on financial reporting, LP relations, valuation and performance analysis. He earned a bachelor's degree in managerial economics from UC Davis in 2014. He is based in Piper Sandler's New York office.