AMONG THE PHOTOS and mementos in Michael Lippert's New York office at Baron Capital is a teddy bear with a miniature, white ten-gallon hat and a sash that reads, "Howdy, Partner."

Lippert, portfolio manager for the Baron iOpportunity Fund, a technology-focused fund with $170 million in assets, isn't from Texas. He's from New Jersey. But the teddy bear dates from nine years ago, a gift when the former litigator made partner at Houston-based Baker & Botts, at age 34.

For many, making partner would be a career topper, but for Lippert, it marked the beginning of the end of his law career. "I remember being bummed out the day I made partner," he recalls. "It was kind of like the Wizard of Oz, when they pull back the curtain and there's some little guy."

"I loved the challenge of the law, I loved putting a case to trial, I loved questioning witnesses. It was very intellectually challenging. What I didn't like is, there is no objective scorecard."

Now, in the three years he's managed iBaron Opportunity (BIOPX), few could quibble with the score. The fund is up 58% year-to-date, compared with a 40% rise for the Nasdaq and 26% for the Standard & Poor's 500 Index. It has no load, a redemption fee of 1% for investors who keep money in the fund for six months or less (zero for those who keep their money in the fund longer than six months), and a fee ratio of 1.42%. Morningstar rates it four stars. The fund invests in high-growth tech companies of all types and sizes.

"Innovation" is a key concept for Lippert, and it's a word he uses often. "We want businesses that are high-growth, that are doing something really innovative, that have barriers around their business, and that are clearly taking market share and getting stronger," he says.

At the top of Lippert's list is Equinix (EQIX), which provides network-exchange facilities for cable and telecom networks. Lippert likens Equinix to an airport, since it helps speed data to intended destinations.

The iBaron Opportunity Fund first bought the shares six years ago, at 20. They were at $105 late last week, and still have room to run, he says, especially since Equinix keeps raising revenue guidance, as it did in the latest quarter.

Apple (AAPL) is another favorite: "I still think Apple is in the very early stages," Lippert says. "There's a real culture of innovation there, and you can look at the things they're doing today, and model them out ...or ask, 'What are they going to do next?' "

Apple's iPhone can take even more market share, Lippert believes, given industry projections for overall smartphone growth. Apple can even stand competition from Google (GOOG), he contends: "There are enormous opportunities for both companies to be big winners here."

For Google, also one of Lippert's top 10, the move into mobile computing with its Android platform for smartphones, and its reported plans to have a branded phone, are just gravy.

"If you look at what's happened over the past three years," Lippert says, "and imagine the devices we're all going to have, and the services and advertising we're going to see, I can't think of a company that's in a better position to deliver than Google.... It's hard to know what this is going to look like, but this is not the stuff of science fiction it is the stuff of our near future."

Lippert also likes some slightly more stolid companies. SBA Communications (SBAC) and American Tower (AMT) both build and buy cellphone towers and lease out antenna space. "The only way to use wireless spectrum better is to have more equipment and more sites," Lippert explains. "These businesses show steady 8% to 10% revenue growth."

One innovator that's noticeably absent from Lippert's current top 10 is Amazon (AMZN), which had fallen to about 1.3% of the fund as of the end of September. The shares had a phenomenal run this year, and Lippert trebled his investment, made with the shares at 40. But it got a bit rich, he says.

"Tripling your return is a great problem to have, but what do you do with that?" he asks. "Obviously, the prudent move was to decrease our exposure to Amazon otherwise, it would have made up 7% or 8% of the fund today."

Baron Funds, headed by investing magnate Ron Baron, usually strives to double returns in four to five years. But with the iBaron Opportunity Fund's focus on the volatile technology sector, the span for doubling can be as short as two years.

While Lippert doesn't much miss the law, his analytical skills and experience as a litigator stand him in good stead in technology-patent disputes. He held mobile-chip maker Qualcomm (QCOM), for example, throughout its prolonged patent battles with Nokia and Broadcom.

"We held less because of [litigation] risks, but Qualcomm was an interesting company," he says. "When Nokia settled, when Broadcom settled, I got comfortable owning a bit more. We haven't made a ton of money in it yet, but I want to own Qualcomm for the next four or five years."

Lippert seems genuinely excited now about what he does for a living: "Everything I do in life, everywhere I go, all of it plays a role in my investment decisions," he says. "I find that incredibly intellectually challenging. We learn about businesses that are in small ways changing the world. It's pretty darn cool."