This study investigates the role of managers' cognitive styles in strategic decision-making during the transition through the Innovation Valley of Death (IVoD) in knowledge-based firms operating in Iran's water and energy sectors. The Innovation Valley of Death refers to the critical stage between proof of concept and successful commercialization, where firms experience the largest gap between development costs and financial resources, causing many technology projects to fail before generating sustainable economic value. This challenge is particularly severe in hard-tech industries such as water and energy due to high capital requirements, technological complexity, regulatory constraints, and dependence on government procurement. Although Iran has significantly expanded its knowledge-based economy through supportive policies and a growing number of knowledge-based firms, commercialization performance has not improved proportionally. Previous research has primarily attributed failures during this stage to financial, structural, and institutional barriers, while the cognitive mechanisms underlying managers' strategic decisions have received limited attention. Drawing on the literature on managerial cognition, this research examines cognitive style as a key determinant of how managers perceive problems, process information, evaluate risks, and select strategic alternatives under conditions of high uncertainty. Using a qualitative multiple-case study approach, the study seeks to explain the cognitive mechanisms through which managers' cognitive styles influence strategic decisions during the transition through the Innovation Valley of Death. By addressing an important theoretical gap linking managerial cognition and innovation commercialization, the findings are expected to contribute to strategic decision-making and innovation management literature while providing practical implications for policymakers, venture capital funds, science and technology parks, accelerators, and knowledge-based firms seeking to improve commercialization success and managerial capability in Iran's strategic water and energy industries.