This communication explores the potential offered by alternative projects to convey more balanced forms of articulation between social and economic goals in the conduct of business activities. Our theoretical framework encompasses the global value chain approach with insights from new developments in institutional theory and economies of worth to generate knowledge on the articulation of a variety of logics and aims in social innovative projects, and on the role of governance in building such articulation. Our research design was built on the comparison of three alternative business projects chosen for their particularly innovative social contribution and/or the challenges posed by the articulation of their economic and social goals. Our results highlight the existence of a relationship between the ways in which economic and social dimensions are embedded in the development of the project, and the capacity of the entrepreneurial team to share decision-making and integrate a wide variety of worlds in the governance of the project.