I'm not sure that "lean start-up" and "self-replicating, consuming machines" go well together. I mean, the competition has had a 3.9 billion year[1] head-start. Considering the number of algorithmic mistakes[2] made specifically involving consume + replicate features of products purchased from the current leader in the industry, I'd prefer to see that done on a slower timeline. Perhaps some careful decades of engineering are called for. Same goes for "making and inserting DNA sequences at your desk for under $1,000."

[1] http://www.reuters.com/article/2009/05/20/us-asteroids-idUST... [2] for example: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=10...

You would need to take on some mass from space. The satellite would have a post launch snack.

If that's the plan, I don't think you've reduced complexity by plotting a zero-gravity rendezvous with a cheeseburger

You could fire it at some of the older satellites?

Feed on existing space junk and simultaneously solve another issue

Zero-gravity, self-assembling, space-debris-katamari-satellite, then? I've got this.