The promotion of social economy is one of the Korean government's top 100 initiatives. As of August 2019, there are 2,249 certified social enterprises in Korea, showing explosive growth with a 41-fold increase from 2007 when the Social Enterprise Promotion Act was first enacted. Currently, the discussion of the sustainability of social-economic organizations is lively, including the issue of changing the certification system to the registration system. Noting the unusual management structure of social enterprise - seeking both social and economic value, this study identifies factors affecting the performance of social enterprises. The study focuses on an empirical investigation of the relationships between characteristics of entrepreneurs' experiences in social economy, strategic competency, the extent to which they seek social value, and their performance. This study is unique in social enterprise research due to its approach to the hybrid management structure of social enterprise with a focus on entrepreneurs' characteristics. Accordingly, this empirical investigation focuses on how social-value seeking mediates the relationships between strategic competency emphasized in typical for-profit enterprises, the characteristics of experiences stressed in social-economic organizations, and the performance of social enterprises. The study findings suggest that, firstly, social entrepreneurs must seek social value as a top priority and improve economic performance using strategic competency to keep pursuing social value, and secondly, social-value seeking must be founded upon entrepreneurs' understanding and experiences in social economy. Practical implications of the study findings include concrete directions for training in social enterprises offered by relevant agencies and the establishment of competency models for current and future entrepreneurs.